The building that served as Aledo Junior High School in Mercer County more than a decade ago will be renovated into rental housing. That's according to Jon Davidshofer of the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation, which is overseeing the project.
"The city of Aledo is really looking to revamp their downtown area, and we think that bringing 30 units of workforce development will be a way to help in that."
The proposed renovation would create 24 apartments in the existing building and 6 more in an addition, along with nearly 50 parking spaces and other amenities.
Davidshofer says the Economic Growth Corporation has renovated several buildings in a similar way, so it knew the middle school in Aledo was a great location.
"We were introduced to the building and just thought that the layout of the existing structure--being a former school and having the rooms the way they are and the corridors, we thought it would be a really nice opportunity to rehabilitate that structure into some quality rental housing units."
The Growth Corporation will apply for historic status from the National Park Service, as well as housing tax credits from the state of Illinois to help pay for the project.
A public meeting will be held Thursday night at 5:30 PM for local residents to discuss the project before renovations begin. For those unable to attend, an online submission form is open for comments until October 30th.
