Politics & Government

Historical Society Pushes Effort to Save Ford School

The village estimates it will cost $31,000 to move the school from its Algonquin site to Ford School Park in Lake in the Hills, where it originally stood.

Ramble Road resident Bruce Becker is excited about the prospect of having the historic Ford School building returned to its original home at .

, 302 Ramble Road, borders Algonquin Road in Lake in the Hills.

Becker, who lives at 305 Ramble Road, lives directly across the street from the park.

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His house faces the lot where the 125-year-old schoolhouse would stand, should the Lake in the Hills Historical Society succeed in its efforts to save the building.

“I think it’s great,” said Becker, a 25-year Lake in the Hills resident and retired carpenter. “I’m all for it.”

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Ford School parkland was the original site of the one-room schoolhouse, built in 1886 on Lucy B. Ford Farm, according to historical documents.

Back in 1945, George Sticklemeyer bought the 20- by 36-foot school and moved it to his farm about one-quarter mile west on Algonquin Road in Algonquin.

Village C.O.W. Meeting

Bob Spooner, president of the Lake in the Hills Historical Society, addressed members of the village’s Committee of the Whole on Tuesday night to seek village assistance.

The society needs at least $15,000 to move the building from the former Stonegate Nursery, 2001 W. Algonquin Road, Algonquin, to .

The boarded-up schoolhouse, with windows shattered by vandals, is the last structure standing at the former nursery.

The group also estimates the new foundation will cost $7,380, and architectural fees will total $1,800. 

Volunteers began collecting donations in August when the owner of the land, Lynn Schuman, of Lake in the Hills, offered to donate the house to the Lake in the Hills Historical Society, which ultimately would place it in the hands of the village.

Schuman would like the building moved by Nov. 1, as it has been the site of constant vandalism, Arden Spooner said.

In just two months, the group has raised $5,100, Bob Spooner told village trustees.

Village Trustees' Response

Response was positive from most village trustees.

“This is one cause that I think is very worthy,” Trustee Paul Mulcahy said. “This building is an honest-to-God historical treasure … We have a school and a park in two different places. Let’s put them back together. I’m in favor of this.”

Village officials compiled their own list of anticipated expenditures needed to move the building.

Their cost estimates totaled $31,000, which prompted some trustees to encourage the historical volunteers to continue fundraising through the winter months with a goal of moving the building in the spring.

“I think it’s a good idea, but I would have a problem with having the village pay for some of it,” Trustee Ray Bogdanowski said. “I don’t have a problem with labor, having some of the public works people help.”

Arden Spooner is concerned waiting until spring may be too late.

She is not certain if the owner will wait that long. Arden Spooner also said that some of the items listed on the village spreadsheet of expenditures could be eliminated.

“The village’s expense listing includes money for bathrooms, “Arden Spooner said. “We want to restore this schoolhouse to its original state, and it didn’t have bathrooms. They had two outhouses back then. So we don’t have the need for sewer and water lines. The village’s plans also call for things like gutters. We don’t need gutters.”

Volunteers Step Up To Help

The Spooners said they have received offers from volunteers throughout the community willing to conduct some of the necessary work for free.

Union-based Rustic Landscape business owner Ken Ebel — whose father, aunt and uncle attended Ford School — said he would help with some of the landscaping needs, Arden Spooner said.

The Lake in the Hills Historical Society also has received an offer from a student service group based out of Crystal Lake South High School to assist with some of the painting, Arden Spooner said.

of Ford School as well as recent pictures of the school at its current location in Algonquin. 


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