Editor’s Note: The start of this story was changed from Charleston High School to Charleston Community Unit District 1 for clarity.

Charleston Community Unit District 1 purchased a new district office and the high school is set to start renovating its gyms in May.

The first purchase, approved in October 2025 by the Charleston Board of Education, was for the property at 580 W. Lincoln Ave., the old Lakeview College of Nursing building. This property will be used as a new district office since the current office has been outgrown, Charleston Superintendent Chad Burgett said.

“I believe this [current] building was purchased 50 years ago for a dollar. It’s basically a pole barn,” he said. “We’ve added additional staff members, and when it comes time for professional development and community meetings, we really don’t have the space for it.”

The current district office will be repurposed as a maintenance facility to store equipment, like snowplows and tractors.

“The current maintenance facility is slowly deteriorating,” said Burgett. “It’s old, there’s holes in the roof. It’s not in good shape; water’s just coming in.”

The goal is to start renovating the new district office between October and December 2026 he said.

According to Burgett, the office will need painted and the carpet will need replaced among other changes.

“It’s going to be a while before we move, but we need them to do some upgrades of the lighting and the carpet and painting,” Burgett said. “There’s going to be some work in one of the bathrooms to make it ADA compliant, things like that.”

To restructure the current district office into the new maintenance facility, the layout of the building will be changed to open up more space.

Buying the building cost around $800,000, according to minutes from the October 2025 board meeting. 

The renovations will cost $1,714,000. according to minutes from the January 2026 board meeting.

The second resolution, approved in January, will update several athletics facilities.

Baker Gym, or the East Gym where basketball games are typically held, will receive renovations first.

It will include sanding down the floor, receiving new backboards, getting shot clocks to be compliant with new IHSA guidelines, a new scores table, more accessible areas and a drop-down flag, Charleston athletic director Brian Deadmond said.

 In the West Gym, the goal is to add bleachers, a drop-down curtain and to repaint.  

The wrestling room is getting new mats and a repaint, Deadmond said.

Deadmond said the school is looking to redo the weight room to improve the strength and conditioning program. He said it is meant to be a clean, visually appealing space for the students to work out in.

“We’ve gotten rid of all our machines in there, and now we have 10 racks and weights for all 10 racks. So that’s a huge thing,” Deadmond said. “But then putting some boards in there, showing records off, so we’re going to have two 70-inch screens to pull up videos for the kids.”

The renovations will hopefully be finished in August, estimated to be about $1.2 million, Burgett said.

Charleston School District is paying for the changes primarily through tax money.

In 2016, the district administration created a list of needs and wants for the district to present to voters in the November primary election in the form of a 1% general sales tax increase, Charleston Superintendent Chad Burgett said.

The sales tax increase passed then, raising the previous sales tax of 6.75% to 7.75% according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.

The district started out addressing items such as security upgrades, roof projects and upgraded HVAC systems when it began receiving money in 2017. The tax money can only go toward renovations and potential upgrades.

Now, the district is beginning to work on the want projects, including the gym upgrades and new office.

Two companies in Charleston, First Mid Bank and Diepholz Auto, have also agreed to donate $120,000 each over 6 years to help with the gym project, Burgett said.

“They see our gym, they see our football field, they see our baseball field, and our softball fields and our soccer fields,” Deadmond said. “We want to work on those areas and try to make them nice places to be in and whenever people come to Charleston, they say, Hey, you know, they’re really invested in what they’re doing.”

Gabe Newman contributed to this article.

Olivia Clardy can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]