Scarritt School repurposing conversation continues

On Thursday, Sept. 21, Kansas City Public Schools’ (KCPS) Repurposing Initiative staff sent a message updating the community on the status of the Scarritt School repurposing plan.

The Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood Association met in February to discuss two new development proposals for the currently vacant Scarritt School site located at Lexington and Bales Avenues in the heart of the neighborhood.

The school was mothballed by KCPS following the 2010 school year and has sat vacant since, becoming a frequent target for crime and vandals. Early in 2022, the district officially declared the school site surplus. That designation started the process for adaptive reuse proposals from private developers. In June 2022, the district hosted a walk-through and on-site discussion of possible reuses for the more than 50,000-square-foot building and the surrounding grounds.

“Thank you for your continued interest in the reuse of the Scarritt School site,” today’s message read. “Since the reuse proposal presentations were held in February, the KCPS Repurposing team has reviewed community feedback with the two proposal teams, Exact Architects and 405 Development, and provided them a few months to work on the key issues identified by community members and the KCPS technical team. For Exact Architects, this focused on incorporating affordable units (at lower rent rates than originally proposed). For 405 Development, this focused on identifying an operator and investor.”

Concurrently, KCPS contracted with Rosin Preservation to submit a National Register Eligibility Assessment (EA) to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

“This is a critical component as both reuse proposals need Historic Tax Credits (HTC) as part of their funding strategy,” the message continued. “Based on the feedback from SHPO, the Rosin team is currently conducting additional research to address questions raised by the SHPO.”

Once the Rosin team has concluded its next stage of research, and if that research can effectively address the SHPO’s questions, KCPS will host a public meeting so that Exact Architects and 405 Development can provide updates and community members can share feedback to inform KCPS’ selection of a development team. KCPS anticipates an early/mid November meeting.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at repurposing@kcpublicschools.org.

Continúa la conversación sobre la reutilización de Scarritt School

Gracias por su continuo interés en la reutilización del edificio de la Escuela Scarritt. Desde que se llevaron a cabo las presentaciones o propuestas en febrero, el equipo de Reutilización de KCPS ha revisado los comentarios de la comunidad con los dos equipos, Exact Architects y 405 Development, y les dieron unos meses para trabajar en los problemas que expresaron los miembros de la comunidad y el equipo técnico de KCPS. Exact Architects, se centró en incorporar domicilios asequibles (a un renta más baja de que lo que abian propuesto originalmente). 405 Development, se centró en buscar un administrador e inversionista.

Al mismo tiempo, KCPS contrató a Rosin Preservation para presentar una Evaluación a la Oficina Estatal de Preservación Histórica (SHPO). Esto es crítico para que ambas propuestas de reutilización puedan recibir un descuento de impuestos. El equipo de Rosin actualmente está realizando investigaciones adicionales para poder cumplir con los requisitos de (SHPO). Una vez que el equipo de Rosin haya concluido su investigación (y si esa investigación pueda satisfacer las preguntas de SHPO), KCPS organizará una reunión pública para que Exact Architects y 405 Development puedan presenter sus planes y los miembros de la comunidad puedan compartir sus comentarios con KCPS. KCPS anticipa una reunión a principios o mediados de noviembre. Fecha por determinar.

Si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en contactarnos en repurposing@kcpublicschools.org.