Heir Force starts new year at new location

LIMA — For years, Heir Force Community School has served as an educational alternative for Lima families at the corner of North Elizabeth Street and West Grand Avenue. On Monday, the community school started a new chapter, journeying a few blocks south on Elizabeth Street to its new downtown Lima home.

The school opened its doors Monday at its new location at 216 N. Elizabeth St., the former Spherion location, for the first day of school while also holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony to allow community leaders to not only see the new facility but also catch a glimpse of the school’s vision for the future.

“That’s been the dream for a long time to have a facility that would allow us to have all kindergarten through eighth grade in one building,” Heir Force Executive Director Willie Heggins said. “But the beauty of this is that it gives us the ability to expand. This is actually just phase one in the expansion project.

“Starting on Sept. 30, we’ll be breaking ground on renovating the 799 N. Main St. (building) that will be the new home for the primary school. This location here will be our permanent middle school. This move is great because it gives us the ability to go from serving approximately 250 kids to about 400 kids on an annual basis. That was the impetus behind making the move downtown.”

With the North Main Street renovation expected to take between six and seven months, all Heir Force students will be taught at the three-story North Elizabeth Street location for this school year. While being closer to the heart of downtown Lima is exciting for Heggins in that the students will be closer to areas like the courthouse and other downtown locations, it can also present challenges as far as keeping the younger students active. That need will be met thanks to local partnerships, Heggins said.

“We’re partnering with the (Lima Family YMCA),” he said. “Every kid in kindergarten through third grade will be getting free swimming lessons for the entire school year. That’s a skill set that will be transferable for the rest of their lives.”

Heggins is working on the logistics for getting time at the facility’s gymnasium for the older students, as well, saying that he hopes to be able to partner with the Allen County RTA or trolley system to help with transportation.