ROCKFORD Five years ago, Rockford Promise handed out five scholarships to high school seniors. The number of students the nonprofit agency supports has grown every year since.
On Friday, community and education leaders gathered in the auditorium of East High School to celebrate the largest class of Rockford Promise scholars yet. This year, 160 seniors were granted scholarships, including 60 students from East High School.
Rockford Promise is a scholarship program created to cover the cost of tuition and fees for Rockford Public Schools graduates who have a 3.0 grade-point average and annual family gross income of under $75,000.
Six scholarship recipients will attend Rockford University, 40 students plan to go to Rock Valley College and 110 will enroll at Northern Illinois University next fall.
ROCKFORD The Rockford Housing Authority board voted unanimously Thursday to demolish the vacant Brewington Oaks housing development in the city’s ORCHiD neighborhood.
Commissioners awarded a $1.54 million demolition contract to N-TRAK Group of Loves Park to raze the twin 14-story towers at 505 and 515 Seminary Street.
“I feel we’ve done our due diligence in exploring other options,” RHA Board Chairperson Karen Hoffman said. “The issue has been before the board since February of 2020 and during this time it’s been the responsibility of RHA to physically and financially maintain this property.”
It’s unclear when demolition will begin, how long it will take and what if anything will be built on the Brewington Oaks footprint.
ROCKFORD Raze or rehab?
That’s the lingering question concerning the future of the Rockford Housing Authority’s vacant Brewington Oaks housing complex on Seminary Street.
Two-and-a-half years after receiving permission from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to tear down the twin 14-story towers, the housing authority is weighing proposals from developers on the future use of the site.
“The only decision going before the Rockford Housing Authority board at this time is whether or not to demolish Brewington Oaks,” housing authority CEO Laura Snyder said in an email. “The board needs to decide if they would entertain a redevelopment concept that would allow the towers to remain intact.”
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