The Knox County Educational Service Center (ESC) has moved its central office to the Woodward Opera House Annex at 107 S. Main St. in downtown Mount Vernon, after more than two decades at the Knox Technical Center on Martinsburg Road. The previous ESC office space will now be used by the Knox County Career Center, which is seeking to accommodate a growing number of students.
“The Career Center has been looking for additional space,” said Dr. Timm Mackley, now in his 16th year as ESC superintendent. “Demand for enrollment in their programs continues to climb. The Career Center wants to accommodate as many students as possible. That is a good thing. The ESC wanted to help make that possible.
“We are looking forward to our new location in the Woodward Opera House Annex, one of Mount Vernon’s historic buildings.”
The ESC office's new location faces South Main Street and features rooms with triple gable parapets. The site is being leased from the Woodward Development Corporation, and the former office was closed last Thursday to move furniture and equipment ahead of reopening in the new location on January 28.
The building housing the new office was constructed in 1884 and was originally known as Rogers Block. It was built and owned by C.G. Cooper, whose company later became Cooper Industries. George Rogers, who had purchased the site with plans for a mercantile building, died before construction began; his brother-in-law and business partner Cooper completed it as trustee of Rogers’ estate.
The ESC provides various staffing services—including background checks and hiring—for five county public school districts, the Career Center, and Clear Fork Valley schools. In addition, it operates preschools in Mount Vernon, Centerburg, East Knox, Fredericktown, and manages the Learning Center alternative K-12 school located in what was formerly Mount Vernon West Elementary.
