Forest Grove School earns historic designation

The group working to save and restore the long-deteriorating Forest Grove School in Bettendorf has received a boost withnotification that the building has been added tothe National Register of Historic Places.

The designation is important because it gives the structure "a whole new level of credibility" with funding sources, including the National Park Service, which maintains theregister, Sharon Andresen, an organizer of Forest Grove School Preservation, said Friday.

The grouphas two grant applications totaling about $35,000 that are pending with the Riverboat Development Authority and the Scott County Regional Authority.

The money would payfora newroof and gutters, eight replacement windows, a replacement for the front door and aheating-ventilation-and-air-conditioning system.

The big question everyone wants answered is when the roof will be replaced, Andresen said.

A tarp was placed over the roofin the fall of 2012, but there has been one delay after another since then as far as getting to the roof, she said.

One delay involves the preservation group's desire to build a replica bell tower, bringing the school back to how itlooked in 1949. A box for the tower needs to be built on the roof before the rest of it is replaced, she said.

"We would like to see construction of the bell tower on the ground this winter so that it can be lifted by crane in the spring, but we hate to commit to anything because it's all dependent on money," she added.

Another delay involving the roof is that the group first will have to build a chimney even though it will be non-functioning because that was a significant feature of the original school, Andresen said.

Still, much has been accomplished since she and others interested in saving the school including the children of its former owners announced their plans in February 2012.

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Forest Grove School earns historic designation