FRANKFORT — Heavy equipment has moved in at the corner of Jefferson and Washington Township’s former school site, where the long–vacant Jefferson Grade School is finally being torn down after decades of service and history in the community.
Dust clouds and splintered bricks filled the air this week as excavators began dismantling the structure that once echoed with the footsteps of students from Jefferson Township and neighboring Perry Township in Colfax. The demolition fulfills plans first announced by Dion Ventura, president of Versatile Construction, nearly a year ago in May 2025.
His company—known for foundation and concrete work—originally considered repurposing the building for office use but later determined the structure had deteriorated beyond repair.
The Jefferson building was once a symbol of neighborhood education in Washington Township. Jefferson School housed High School Students until Clinton Prairie was consolidated in the early 60’s. Students from Colfax and Jefferson areas passed through its halls in the 60’s before the Clinton Prairie elementary school was built.
In later years, the building sat empty, briefly used in the 1980s by local businessman Jim Strader as storage space for caskets sold to funeral homes across the Midwest. But years of disuse and exposure left the once-proud brick facility unsafe for restoration.
Now, only portions of the front wall and foundation remain as memories of the past make way for new opportunity on Frankfort’s west side.
