PEORIA, Ill. – After what some say is 50 years of virtual non-use, a more than 100-year-old former South Peoria school is finally meeting a wrecking ball.
The city Wednesday began demolishing the former McKinley School — long seen by many as an eyesore in the area near Webster and Adrian Hinton.
“We’re removing a building that sat here for multiple years, and really kind of showing the neighborhood that we’re investing this money in their neighborhood to remove a blighted structure that’s sat vacant, abandoned,” said Joe Dulin, Peoria Community Development Director. “It’s just some hope for the community that we are working hard to try to fix and clean things up.”
Dulin says about a million dollars in American Rescue Plan money is being used on the demolition. Crews were able to save some of the building’s art and artifacts from the wrecking ball. It’s not year clear what could become of those pieces.
The Peoria City Council member who spearheaded the just-underway demolition of McKinley, and the pending demolition of Harrison School, sees more opportunity in South Peoria now that the structures are coming down.
“There are empty parcels all around here — not just on the McKinley site. Homes used to sit here,” said Denise Jackson, Dist. 1. “I would like to see new housing — new, affordable housing — to this area. We are trying to bring residents back to our south side.”
Jackson, who says there are other movements to try to bring residents back to South Peoria.
She says not one person she talked to was opposed to demolishing McKinley, which other than as a day care facility, hadn’t seen much use since becoming privately owned in 1995. The city took ownership in 2022. It was built in 1904.
