Elgin Planning and Zoning commissioners gave School District U-46 an “A” for the plans it submitted for a new elementary school to be built on the former D.C. Cook property at 850 N. Grove Ave. The 88,000-square-foot building designed for up to 680 students will go to the Elgin City Council with the commission’s unanimous endorsement. “We view the construction of this elementary school as a generational investment not only in the children of Elgin and the school district but also in the surrounding neighborhood,” U-46 Chief of Staff Brian Lindholm said at the Monday night meeting. The yet-to-be-named school is to replace McKinley Elementary School, located at 258 Lovell St. McKinley is one of the oldest and least accessible buildings in the district, Lindholm said. Built in 1887, it has an enrollment of 324 students. McKinley “has served us very well, but it’s no longer meeting the modern standards for accessibility, safety, instructional programming or site functionality,” Lindholm said. Tearing down McKinley and building a new school in its place was “impractical,” he said. And while the the district usually reassigns students to neighboring schools when a building is closed, this time it made more sense to move them to a new building within walking distance of McKinley, he said. The new school will have a masonry exterior with a sawtooth roof inspired by the original D.C. Cook building, senior planner Damir Latinovic told the commission. The 30,000-square-foot Cook building was designed by Elgin architect David E. Postle in a Classical Revival style. Efforts to find a buyer for the property were unsuccessful and the structure was demolished in 2012. U-46 purchased the property in 2024. A 145,000-square-foot light industrial building still on the property is going to razed as well. Staff and visitor parking lots will be located north and southeast of the building and an outdoor playground and playing fields will be to the west and southwest, Latinovic said. U-46 has worked with the Northeast Neighborhood Association of Elgin to address concerns about traffic and saving the mature oak trees on the property, Lindholm said. “I can assure you we’ve taken those concerns to heart and addressed them by commissioning professional traffic engineering and arborist studies you will see reflected in the plans we submitted,” he said. The new school will have drop-off and pick-up lanes in the north parking lot with a stack-up capacity for up to 69 cars. The maximum number of vehicles picking up students at McKinley currently is 39, according to the study. A traffic management plan will be implemented with crossing guards on Grove Avenue, and staff will be stationed in the north parking lot to help with traffic, Latinovic said. Buses will line up in a separate lane and exit onto Lincoln Avenue, he said. Commissioner Karin Jones said she struggles with elementary schools located in neighborhoods. “I love it in the neighborhood, and I also sympathize for the neighborhood,” she said. “It’s not about the kids. It’s not the schools. It’s the parents and the drop-offs and pick-ups.” She has seen parents block driveways and park illegally when picking up or dropping off their kids, she said. “I worry about the impact on those surrounding homes,” she said. Lindholm said the district could have more staff on the site to help parents understand where they can and cannot park. The district also addressed requests by the neighborhood association to save three existing oak trees on the east side of the property. The trees will be kept, and 81 new trees planted throughout the site. “We accept there is a careful balance between preserving what the community values while also investing responsibly for the future,” Lindholm said. “We feel this project will transform a vacant industrial site into a beautifully landscaped campus with a modern U-46 school that will strengthen neighborhood stability and be a source of pride for many generations.” One resident said that he is not keen to see the school built at that location. “It sounds like a wonderful project, but as a neighbor and property owner who lives a block away, I’m concerned,” Travis Linville said, noting the antipated traffic increase and potential for blocked neighborhood streets. “Many of the things that will be implemented are great, but I don’t think they will come close to mitigating the day-to-day, significant impact this has on me and my ability to come and go or feel my vehicle is safe,” Linville said. Commissioners, however, were positive in their comments. “It looks like an exciting project. It’s great to see U-46 investing in Elgin,” Jones said. Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. ...read more read less