UPDATED 8:17 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. – The federal government is giving out money that will help Peoria tear down a former school that’s become an eyesore.
$1 million in Community Project Funding money is going to the city to tear down the old Harrison Primary School, through Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.
Hedy Elliot used to teach at Harrison, and tells 25 News it used to be a beautiful building, now turned into a large safety hazard.
“[There are] open doors and open windows at a level where children can really just step into the building if they so choose, and it’s extremely dangerous,” Elliot said to 25 News.
Windows at the school are boarded up in spots, there are problems with asbestos, and there are used tires and other problems that have cropped up at the old school.
“Not only do you improve the community and the property values surrounding [it], living in a house next to something like that, but it’s a huge public safety factor as well,” Peoria Community Development Director Joe Dulin said to 25 News.
The Community Project Funding money is the same initiative that helped Congressman Darin LaHood get money to UnityPoint Health for its Heddington Oaks mental health project last week.
Bustos also got an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Bradley University while in town Thursday.
