Springfield School District 186 s oldest building is getting an addition with classrooms and smaller group spaces and an elevator for the first time.
The construction won t change Dubois Elementary s vaunted facade, which faces Lincoln Avenue and has been the entry point for the school since 1896.
The school building sits on what was part of the Sangamon County Fairgrounds and then Camp Yates, a training camp for new recruits and militias from around the state, according to SangamonLink, the online website for the Sangamon County Historical Society.
Ulysses S. Grant first took command of Union troops there in 1861 and made his headquarters in a bungalow on the school s present-day site.
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