 It could not be incorporated into the new gym's floor because the new gym floor's surface was rubberized rather than wood construction.Stephen Decatur was closed as a high school when Decatur Public Schools consolidated from three high schools to two due to reduced enrollment in District 61.At the time of the closure in 2000, the Stephen Decatur High School newspaper, The Observer, was the oldest continuously published school newspaper in Illinois, with 106 years of issues (1895-2000).