UPDATE 11/9: Joe Lemon has now made a formal offer to re-develop the old Audubon School.
Lemon has made a formal bid on the property for $100,000. This is the first time that Lemon has submitted a formal bid on the property, according to the Rock Island Argus Dispatch. The district has a board meeting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. The agenda however, doesn’t show anything about the Audubon school.
11/7 Story: Workers at Audubon School began asbestos removal on Thursday, November 7th, 2013 in Rock Island.
Rock Island-Milan school officials say that crews began the removal Thursday morning. There were about five cars seen inside the fence around 9 a.m. Thursday. The fence has been put up to get the building ready for demolition.
On October 22nd, the school board voted to demolish the building. District administrators said they had not not received a “formal bid” on the property from Joe Lemon, at that time.
Since then, former Rock Island man Donald Lind has started a petition to try saving the school. District officials would not comment on the petition. They are moving on with the demolition process as planned, so far.
Asbestos removal should take two to three weeks. The building is scheduled to be demolished shortly after that.
