The West Aurora District 129 School Board Tuesday night approved the purchase of a commercial building in North Aurora which is set to become the new home of the district’s automotive education program.
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The board voted 6-0 to purchase the building at 202-208 Genesis Drive for $1.7 million.
The district proposes to move its automotive vocational program from Mooseheart Child City & School to the North Aurora site.
The district expects to close on the property by the end of the month and have the facility ready for students by the first day of school on Aug. 16, West Aurora School District Director of Community Affairs Anna Gonzales said.
The North Aurora facility is at Orchard Gateway Boulevard and Genesis Drive just west of the auto mall on the village’s southwest side.
The building previously housed a Merlin Complete Auto Care and also includes three separate office spaces. The site is “necessary, suitable and convenient” for vocational and other educational training, according to the resolution approved by the school board.
The district was also granted a special use permit through the village of North Aurora to operate an educational facility/vocational school at the site. The North Aurora Village Board voted 5-0 Monday in favor of granting the special use.
“The district proposes to use the entire building for a vocational automotive training center. The northern portion that currently houses the auto repair shop would accommodate lab activities where vehicles would be used as a demonstration and practice opportunities,” according to North Aurora Village Planner David Hansen in a memo to the Village Board. “The three office spaces to the south would house and offer diagnostics, hybrid and engine lab environments. In the future, District 129 may consider utilizing the three office spaces for other classes such as HVAC and Fire Science.”
West Aurora School District was previously busing students taking automotive mechanics classes to the Fox Valley Career Center on the campus of Kaneland High School in Maple Park. The district in 2019 established a partnership with Mooseheart Child City & School to provide auto mechanics classes there to avoid West Aurora High School students from missing class time due to the commute between Aurora and Maple Park.
West Aurora School District Superintendent Jeff Craig at the time described the partnership with Mooseheart as a “unique and rare opportunity.” Mooseheart had a vocational center on its campus, however it was not being used because it could not find a teacher for the program, district officials said.
The district for the past four years has essentially traded services with Mooseheart, which let the district use its facility while District 129 provided the teacher for the program, West Aurora Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Brent Raby said in his report to the school board earlier this month.
Raby on June 5 presented a proposal to the school board on how the district proposes to relocate the automotive programming vocational school from Mooseheart to the North Aurora site.
“We reached capacity on what we could do within the Mooseheart location because it has one bay. For the past year we have been seeking other solutions to allow further expansion to the program,” Raby said.
The district’s auto mechanics program offers two courses. The first class introduces students to the wide field of auto repair and it is more “functional,” while the other course is project-based and encourages students to provide their input on what areas they are interested in covering, district officials said.
“The Automotive II program gets students working with the lift and actually repairing, not just changing parts. There is a difference between diagnosing and changing random parts,” Raby said.
Other aspects of the program include students working on donated cars or personal cars and earning certifications in areas such as tire balancing. Students have opportunities to earn dual credit with Waubonsee Community College and pursue possible internships at automotive shops or car dealerships through the program.
An exciting component of moving the program to North Aurora is that there are several car dealerships in close proximity to the Genesis Drive site, Raby said.
“It gives possible internship opportunities for our students. It’s one of the things we are excited about,” he said. “The site itself is conducive for expanding the program as well. Genesis Drive would allow us the possibility because of the square-footage of the building to expand to a classroom setting where students can see more lab-based course work.
“Kids can work on an engine that’s been removed from a car and can be moveable in the classroom. This will allow us to expand the program and allow for even more students,” Raby said.
Since the location is a former car care center, it is ready for the district to move in and offer courses, district officials said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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