The Prairie Central School District has hired the architects who will be responsible for designing the district’s new $52 million elementary school.
The Prairie Central School Board approved the hire during a special July 4 meeting to have Decatur-based BLDD Architects begin the design process on
According to PC Superintendent Brian Quam, no final price tag has been established with BLDD.
“We will know more of the total cost once the design process is complete and once materials are selected,” Quam said. “The basic service fee of BLDD is 6.12% of the total cost of the construction project.”
The estimated cost to build the new school is $52 million. The district plans to spend another $18 million on the district’s upper elementary school, junior high and high school.
Voters approved a $38 million building bond referendum on April 1 to help cover the costs, and in doing so, voted to support the construction of the new school and the closure of three schools.
Primary schools in Chatsworth and Chenoa and an elementary school in Fairbury are slated for closure. Students from those schools will attend the new elementary school in Fairbury, which should open in time for the 2028 school year.
Quam said the design process will take place during the 2025-26 school year, which began on July 1. Some conceptual designs should be completed by spring of 2026, when the district hopes to break ground.
“We are going to make sure that we can provide the best facility for our communities with the resources that have been allocated for this project,” Quam said.
BLDD was one of three architect firms invited to make a presentation to the board and construction manager Vissering Construction in May, along with the Farnsworth Group and Dewberry.
“They have a strong reputation as a firm that is committed to building functional educational spaces and over 80% of their projects are in education,” Quam said. “We contacted many schools that worked with them in the past and they all gave positive feedback.”
BLDD will be charged with designing the new building while working with the school district and Vissering Construction. BLDD will then help Vissering in overseeing the project to its completion, Quam said.
Erich Murphy is a reporter for the (Pontiac) Daily Leader. He can be reached at emurphy@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Prairie Central School Board makes crucial hire in process to build a new $58M school
Reporting by Erich Murphy, Pontiac Daily Leader / Pontiac Daily Leader
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