Work has begun on the renovation of the Albert Kahn-designed Franklin Furniture building in the East Riverfront district. The building will become a
University Prep Science & Math High School.
The
school will be 94,000 square feet. Three existing 20,000-square-foot floors will be renovated into classroom and office space, plus a newly constructed fourth floor will have a gym, cafe, conference room and
terrace. The architect of record for the project is Detroit-based GunnLevine.
The
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan awarded a grant of $1.5 million to New Urban Learning, the
nonprofit parent organization of University Prep Science & Math
and University Prep Academy, to support the renovation. The Thompson Educational
Foundation is contributing the remaining $13.5 million of the funds necessary to complete the job.
Mariam Noland, president of CFSEM, says the school's location is part of what makes it exciting for her agency. "There is a new state park two blocks away, and the opportunity to use that as outdoor laboratory is very interesting," she says.
The high school is scheduled to open in September 2010 with 108
students in the ninth grade. A grade will be added each year until it
is a full high school, with 450 students, in 2013. It will be aligned with University Prep Science & Math Middle School, which moves into its permanent facility adjacent to the Detroit Science Center this September.
This will be
the seventh school that Thompson Educational Foundation has either constructed or renovated
for Detroit students in the past six years.
Source: Mariam Noland, CFSEM
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Rendering: GunnLevine Architects
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