For 116 years, Lincoln School stood on West Lincoln Avenue, its red-brick walls anchoring neighborhood life. The last bell rang in 2017, and demolition cleared the site in 2024. Developer HP Lincoln now proposes nine single-family homes, aiming to weave fresh stories into the 120,769-square-foot lot while honoring generations who studied there. Public review begins in early May, opening a new chapter for a campus that once shaped Highland Park’s heart.

Red Brick Beginnings

Opened in 1909, the two-story grammar school blended sturdy red brick with limestone trim and broad arched windows that flooded classrooms with light. Residents gathered there for holiday concerts, spelling bees, and town meetings, making the building a social anchor as well as a place of learning. Its bell tower and maple-lined yard symbolized the promise of public education for a fast-growing Lake County suburb.

Silence After the Final Bell

On an October evening in 2017, District 112 trustees voted to close Lincoln and nearby Elm Place, citing budget gaps and a district-wide modernization plan. Parents left the meeting shaken, while board members promised the school’s story would live on. The final recess whistle blew the following spring, and for the first time since 1909, the halls fell silent behind locked doors.

Flight of Time Preserved

Before crews arrived, workers lifted down the stone clockface installed in 1929 by Prairie-style architect John Van Bergen to honor civic leader Nell Seyfarth. Nicknamed “The Flight of Time,” the Art Deco dial had marked class changes for generations. District staff carefully crated the piece, and it will soon hang inside Ravinia Elementary, where its hands will keep turning for new students just a few blocks away.

Demolition Dust Rising

Excavators rolled onto the playground in September 2024 and bit into a corner classroom, releasing plaster and brick dust over West Lincoln Avenue. Alumni gathered at the fence to trade stories of school plays and science fairs as the roof gave way. Salvage crews rescued doors, trophy cases, and limestone nameplates, while preservation advocates mourned what they felt was a lost chance to repurpose the sturdy structure.

Nine Homes From Five Lots

With the building gone, HP Lincoln filed a plan to reshape the awkward five-lot parcel into nine rectangular home sites totaling about 2.8 acres. The layout requires multiple zoning variations and a shared interior lane because the land bends behind nearby backyards. City planners say the re-plat would improve street frontage and drainage and add new tax value, though neighbors will weigh in at hearings. 

Porchfront Futures With Modern Comforts

Concept drawings shown at a neighborhood meeting feature Craftsman-inspired houses with deep porches, gabled roofs, and brick accents that echo the school’s original palette. Inside, open kitchens flow into family rooms, main-floor primary suites offer step-free living, and garages arrive wired for electric-vehicle chargers. The developer promises energy-efficient windows, native landscaping, and a two-for-one tree-replacement plan to help the new block blend into its century-old surroundings.

Recess Memories Rekindled

Many lifelong residents still measure time by their days at Lincoln. Carla M., who learned cursive in Room 103, says she hears the lunch bell whenever she passes the corner. Joe V., Class of ’72, recalls lining up for tornado drills in the basement and feeling safe behind thick walls. Such recollections are fueling a push for a small historical marker near the planned entrance drive.

Spotlight on May Six

Highland Park’s Plan and Design Commission opens deliberations on Tuesday, May 6. Members will review traffic studies, drainage models, and tree surveys while neighbors raise questions about density and construction timing. A positive recommendation could send the project to the City Council later in May, but commissioners might request revisions that add weeks to the timeline HP Lincoln hopes will lead to summer groundbreaking. 

Groundbreaks and New Chapters

If approvals arrive on schedule, site work could start in July, foundations in September, and the first residents might move in by spring 2026. Where hopscotch grids once covered the asphalt, backyard gardens and porch lights would signal a new rhythm of life. Nine households will begin their stories even as the rescued clock down the street keeps time for memories that refuse to fade.