Carr School Feasibility Study

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Type of Project: Economic Feasibility Study
PRO Services: Historic Building Assessment, Rehabilitation Planning, Community Engagement, Research
Commencement: March 2015
Status: Completed, 2016

PRO joined American Communities Trust (ACT) and Cross Street Partners (CSP) in compiling a feasibility study for the adaptive reuse of the long-vacant Carr School into a business incubator. Carr Square Tenant Management Corporation, a renowned tenant organization that manages the historic Carr Square Village public housing complex, envisions that the incubator will enhance entrepreneurship and job creation in an area not currently being reached by St. Louis’ emergent growth economy.

Vacant for over 30 years, the Carr School is a significant work by master architect William B. Ittner. Completed in 1908, the Italian Renaissance-inspired building was characterized by an L-shape enclosing a playground, polychrome tile work designed by William Chapman Mercer for the Moravian Pottery Works and a Ludowici clay tile roof. After iits closure, however, Carr School became symbolic of the plight of shuttered public buildings. Its appearance in most endangered buildings lists has been frequent, making its preservation a hopeful change in its narrative.

The PRO/ACT/CSP team developed a project program and financial structure that achieved the clients’ goals for economic development and community-based outcomes.