Year begins on good note for JH

PC Superintendent Brian Quam addresses the Fairbury Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon.

A damaged gym roof and buckling floors are no more for Prairie Central Junior High School in Forrest thanks to extensive work over the past several months.

The gym roof was damaged by severe weather late last year which led to gym improvements. The floor was ripped out – which took over 200 saw blades. New LED lights were installed, the sound system replaced and new scoreboards purchased. Then came the pallets of maple wood to build the subfloor under the basketball court.

“This was a fun process to watch,” noted Prairie Central Superintendent Brian Quam while speaking to the Fairbury Rotary this week.

It appears the ongoing problem with floor tiles moving has been solved with a type of carpet that allows concrete to breathe with no rubber backing on it. Quam says this was cheaper than having to re-tile the entire school.

“We just reduced the maintenance of this building by probably 60 percent in the summertime,” said Quam.

Due to coal in the concrete, tiles actually moved with freeze and thaw weather cycles.

“Kids were tripping and tile was coming up,” admits Quam.

Quam also updated the group on the new school project in Fairbury where 120 truckloads of clay were brought in during the first week. Foundation work is expected to start at the future elementary school in the next couple of weeks.

“It’s getting real.”                                   

The new school is expected to be open in the fall of 2028.