Melissa Bailey File Photo
The MLK School.
Achievement First charter school network has bought the former Martin Luther King School for $1.5 million, sealing a hard-fought deal with the city and clearing the way for demolition to begin this summer.
Aldermen approved the deal in December after much wrangling over a community benefits deal. The city sold the building at 580 Dixwell Ave. on May 14 to Elm City College Prep. Inc, the legal entity that runs one of Achievement First (AF)‘s middle schools.
Fletcher Thompson Architects
A rendering of the new Amistad High.
The charter network plans to spend $35 million razing the abandoned MLK school and building a new home for its Amistad High School. The state will pay 69 percent of the construction costs, according to Lisa Desfosses, AF’s senior director of facilities.
Desfosses said the sale makes way for AF to begin demolition and abatement in June. The new building should be ready for students to return from winter break in January 2015, she said.
Since several alderman voted to make this happen, let's see if they can make jobs (on this project) for the people in the community happen as well.
This company threatened to take the deal off of the table if the alderman didn't make this a time sensitive issue. Please! To their credit, the psychological ploy worked brilliantly. The only reason why they embarked on this venture in the first place was because they seen the dollar enhancement.
I invite the true leadership of the community to take a closer look at this deal. Did the Newhallville alderwoman secure jobs for the people in the neighborhood on this project? Did the Newhallville alderwoman secure a majority of slots for the students of Newhallville? Will the murals depicting several black historic characters remain affixed to the new building?
Just a couple of concerns one may question.