(Radio Iowa) – An after-school program in the Cedar Valley plans to help the rural workforce by remodeling an old elementary school. The former Elk Run Preschool is a 10-to-20-minute drive from Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Bailey Moore, director of operations for the Boys and Girls Club, says they need the space in order to best serve families that work in the city and those who live farther out. “We talked to Tyson Foods about having us out here and trying to help support their workers more, same with John Deere,” Moore says. “Really, the support has been unanimous that yes, it would be very beneficial to have out here.”

The club has been using parts of the school for some time but has recently reached an agreement with the Waterloo Board of Education to acquire the building for one dollar. The club won the building over bids for a housing development and Tyson Foods.  “Between having some community impact programs versus tearing the building down, it’s always going to be better to have things that are positive impacts for the community,” Moore says. “That’s really what I think the consensus of the Elk Run community was, let’s keep this building and let’s see some good things happen out of it.”

Moore says the five-to-ten-year plan will be a near-total overhaul of the old school, starting with a 200-thousand dollar furnace project.

(Grant Winterer, Iowa Public Radio)