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L-P celebrates official opening of Eureka Savings Bank Agriculture Center · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  LP celebrates official opening of Eureka Savings Bank Agriculture Center. Written by
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  Emily BB This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  to you by Everlet. La Salle-Peru Township High School officially celebrated its
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  new agriculture center Thursday evening, marking a building students have been learning
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  in since August and a program that has grown from roughly 30
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  students to 102 in less than a year.
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  The grand opening of the Eureka Savings Bank Agriculture Center drew donors,
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  school leaders and community members for student-led tours, speeches and the presentation
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  of wooden tokens of appreciation to the donors whose names now mark
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  spaces throughout the two-story building.
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  We are just over three months into using this building, and we
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  intentionally held off on this formal opening, because we recognize the potential
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  that represents student learning and leadership, L-P Superintendent Clayton Theisinger said.
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  Theisinger pointed to what students have already done with the space, including
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  designing and 3D-printing brackets to fix computers mounted behind the building’s TVs,
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  and speaking at a La Salle City Council meeting in support of
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  the special use permit L-P received that allows animals on campus for
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  veterinary science instruction.
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  L-P FFA President Mollie Thomson shared a line from the FFA opening
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  ceremony.
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  The rising sun is a token of a new era in agriculture.
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  Each day, as that sun rises and shines over the Eureka Savings
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  Bank Agriculture Center, we are excited to have a space that creates
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  a new era of agriculture for many generations, Thomson said.
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  The evening was a milestone for a program with deep roots. More
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  than 50 years ago, La Salle-Peru and Tonica FFA chapters merged to
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  form the La Salle-Peru chapter. Then, for about 17 years, the program
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  went quiet.
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  The program may have been gone, but the importance of agricultural education
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  never went away, agricultural educator and FFA advisor Riley Hintzsche said.
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  Since relaunching, the program has grown to 102 FFA members and offers
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  courses in animal science, veterinary science, introduction to agriculture and horticulture, according
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  to an August 2026 Shaw Local article. The building at the corner
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  of Sixth and Creve Coeur streets features classrooms, a commercial kitchen, a
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  headhouse for floral design, a greenhouse and a hands-on shop, with FFA
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  offices upstairs.
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  In September, the La Salle City Council unanimously approved a special use
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  permit allowing cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and rabbits to be
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  brought on campus for veterinary and animal science instruction, with animals visiting
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  for educational periods rather than living on campus, according to a September
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  Shaw Local article.
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  Much of the roughly $8 million facility was funded through private donations.
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  Eureka Savings Bank’s $500,000 contribution earned the building’s name, recognized formally
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  in June, according to a June Shaw Local article.
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  It is a concrete statement of belief in the future of this
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  program, this school, its students and our community, Eureka Savings Bank President
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  and CEO John McCormick said during the grand opening event.
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  McCormick traced the bank’s own history to 1885, when George Wilson founded
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  Eureka as a mutual company. Wilson went on to serve as a
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  trustee and board chairman of the L-P High School board for its
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  inception from 1898 to 1902 and again from 1906 to 1931.
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  In 1924, L-P High School began the La Salle-Peru-Oglesby LPO Junior College,
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  now known as IVCC.
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  Donors were recognized throughout the evening, and their names now hang on
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  spaces across the building: the Jack and Geraldine Ferrari Atrium, sponsored by
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  Gary Ferrari in memory of his parents; the Herz Performance Ag Tool
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  Room, from Bill Debbie Herz; the ADM Grain and Milling Ag Teacher
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  Office; the Linda Mae Hiltabrand greenhouse; and the student commons, sponsored by
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  the Mudge Hammers families in honor of Molly Mudge, whose passion and
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  perseverance helped bring FFA back to L-P.
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  Giving levels ranged from Sowing Seeds of Innovation, $100 to $500, to
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  Harvest of the Future, $5,001 to $10,000.
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  The building may not be the finish line. A veterinary science building
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  is proposed for the south side of the property, with a $200,000
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  naming opportunity still listed on the campaign’s Plant a Legacy display.
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  I hope tonight isn’t about being excited that something is finished or
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  that something is complete, Hintzsche said. I hope tonight is about recognizing
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  that this is a starting point for our community and the impacts
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  that it will continue to generate.
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  Hintzsche closed by thanking donors.
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  To our donors and supporters, thank you for investing in something that’s
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  going to outlive us, Hintzsche said. Welcome to the Eureka Savings Bank
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  Agriculture Center. Thank you for believing in the future of agriculture.