SOUTH LOOP — Mayor Rahm Emanuel visited with students at William Jones College Preparatory High School Wednesday morning for a ribbon cutting ceremony and a glimpse at the renovations at the school, which could've been torn down a few years ago.
In celebrating the school's overhaul, Emanuel pointed to a conversation he had two years ago with Jones Prep Principal Joseph Powers and his staff.
"I said, 'A lot of people are talking about taking it down and just putting grass' and then both the assistant principals and the principal described the fact that at that time there were about 11,000 applicants for a total of 250 seats each year, but 250 more kids could get in, who were qualified, but there was no availability," Emanuel said, adding the conversation convinced him not to tear down the school, but instead give Powers the opportunity to shoulder the load and devise a plan.
Powers and his staff devised a plan to turn the school, which was designed in 1967 to resemble an office building, into a two high-rise building bursting with new features for the students and staff.
Those features include a pre-law lab, a fitness center with a locker room, a multi-purpose room, a student resource center, new art rooms, cooling plant upgrades, architectural renovations, renovations of the existing cafeteria and mechanical upgrades.
"We're so proud to have been able to retain this building and that could not have happened without the leadership of Mayor Emanuel," Powers said. "Going all the way back several years ago to the mayors first visit here he showed a strong interest for us to retain this building even as we built and moved in to the new campus immediately south of us."
The two-building campus can now serve more than double the students it originally could and will eventually serve 1,700 students on the campus, Powers said.
The pre-law lab will help former attorney Christy Gerst, who developed legal studies program at the school.
Improvements to the cafeteria include new lights and the installation of a wheelchair ramp to make the school accessible to the disabled. The roof was also replaced and the school's facade was repaired.
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