The Wethersfield School District’s unit office will be moving into a new building early next year, if all goes as planned.

The Board of Education approved the purchase of the building at 542 Tenney St., for $225,000 from DeReu Construction at its August meeting Thursday.

Superintendent Dr. Andrew Brooks told The Kewanee Voice after the meeting that owner Jim DeReu, owner of DeReu Construction, approached them about buying the building which is currently vacant.

“It was an opportunity we could not pass up, mainly due to the location,” Dr. Brooks said, pointing out that it will address some of the district’s needs.

The school’s athletic field sits on the north side of the property while a smaller athletic field abuts it on the east. A strip mall currently occupied by two restaurants sits a few feet to the south along Tenney.

The initial plan is to move the unit office, which currently occupies two rooms on the first floor of the Blish Building, used by the superintendent and two staff, into the front portion of the new building possibly as soon as after Christmas break. The move will also allow the district to consolidate student files and other records stored in various locations into one set of rooms.

There will also be an opportunity to create additional classroom space in the Blish, which now houses seventh and eighth grades. The board’s meeting room will also be moved from the high school into the new building which will free up space there.

Beyond that, Dr. Brooks said, school officials are making a “dream list” and considering possible concepts for use of the space which includes two large warehouse spaces added over the years.

Some items on the “dream list” are a locker room for the football team with access to the adjacent field. There could also be space for batting cages and even the possibility of space for an Annawan-Wethersfield co-op wrestling team someday.

“There is a lot of potential for this property,” Dr. Brooks said. “Once we close and can get in the space, we’ll be able to get a full grasp of the layout and can start the planning. It’s going to be very exciting.”

Building has generational ties to school family

The Tenney Street property has multi-generational ties to one Wethersfield School District family.

According to newspaper archive stories, a 61’ X 50’ “masonry-type” building was constructed in 1960 by property owner Cecil Newman. It was leased to a local businessman Fred Allen who opened Allen’s Dairy Drive-in Restaurant there in November of that year. The building featured a drive-up window for a “quick, come-as-you-are way to do your shopping.”

Managed by Allen’s wife, Minnie, the restaurant was a widely popular destination for good food, pastries and dairy products. Over the years the location was occupied by Schneider & Jensen Construction, Carpet Mart, and The Oak Shoppe, among others, and most recently by Sale Haven and DeReu Construction.

In September of 1960 Newman also announced plans to build a 10-unit motel in the field east of the restaurant which would also be leased to Allen, but those plans apparently fell through. Today, the land, now owned by the school district, is an auxiliary athletic field.

Helping his dad build the restaurant 65 years ago was a Wethersfield High School sophomore, his son, Jerry Newman, who is now employed by the school transporting Wethersfield students to and from the ExCel Alternative School in Atkinson. Jerry, his two brothers, Jim and Terry, and sister Shirley (Dana) all graduated from WHS.

One of Jerry’s sons, Steve, is now president of the Wethersfield Board of Education and, along with brothers Andy, Joe and Josh, are also all WHS grads. Representing the fourth generation of Cecil’s family is great granddaughter Tinsley Newman, Josh’s daughter, now a junior at WHS.