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State grant brings new seats to 100-year-old Prussing School auditorium
by BRIAN NADIG
A state capital improvement grant helped bring new seats and other improvements to the auditorium at Prussing School, 4650 N. Menard Ave., on Chicago’s NW Side.
“The kids have the space they deserve,” Prussing principal Alexander Zalar said.
“It’s a 100-year-old building, (and) the seats were original,” Zalar said. “They were so old they had to saw to get the legs off to get them out” in some instances.
The school had been using folding chairs in spots where auditorium seats were missing due to damage over the years, Zalar added.
Some of the old wood seats, or at least parts of them, were salvageable, and are supposed to be used to help repair or replace old seats in other school auditoriums, he said.
More than 250 new seats were installed this fall at Prussing, and the Prussing Parent Teacher Organization is donating about $20,000 for an upgraded sound system. In addition the state grant, the Chicago Public Schools provided additional resources for painting, new lighting and, where needed, repairs.
The state grant totaled around $250,000 and had been initiated years ago, prior to the pandemic, said Zalar, who was appointed the school’s principal last March.
Senator Robert Martwick (D-10) was still a state representative when the grant was first discussed., Zalar said. Martwick became a senator in 2019.
Prussing honored Martwick and state Representative Lindsey LaPointe (D-19), who replaced Martwick, before a school assembly on Dec. 18.
Zalar said that CPS and state resources were combined to what turned out to be a successful improvement project. “They did a great job.”
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