The South Central School Corp.’s new Student Activity Center was built as part of a construction project that created needed spaces and classrooms for students at the kindergarten to 12th-grade school complex. Kankakee Valley REMC and Wabash Valley Power Alliance provided support, including $17,841.25 in Power Moves rebates for energy efficiency upgrades, which lower long-term energy costs. The student center was completed last May. Just a few weeks later, the football team and cheerleaders began using the facility for practice and conditioning.

“The need for that space was significant. It’s been great,” South Central School Corp. Superintendent Ben Anderson said, noting that student groups routinely booked the school’s three gyms for activities and meetings for hours each day before and after school. “We intentionally called it the Student Activity Center. We want people to know that it’s used for more than athletics.”

The activity center is a standalone building next to the K-12 school complex and football field. The center features bays to host indoor and outdoor activities, as well as nets for baseball and softball batting practice. In the first few months of the school year, the facility hosted blood drives, a health care clinic for school employees, and meetings for 4-H and Future Farmers of America student groups.

Darrell Marks, energy services specialist for the cooperative, worked with school corporation officials to ensure that the upgrades qualified for Power Moves rebates. The renovation featured LED lighting and occupancy sensors throughout the activity center and school. School officials are considering additional projects, such as upgrading the football field lights to LEDs, as well as other possible energy projects. 

Power Moves offers not just business grants for energy efficiency projects, but also residential ones. If you have a project planned, visit powermoves.com or contact our office.