Grace Church School in the East Village plans to open a new high school at 38-50 Cooper Square a few blocks south of its pre-kindergarten-to-eighth grate school as a result of a unanimous decision by the Board of Standards and Appeals last month, according to an article in this week's edition of The Villager by Albert Amateau.
The article said it plans to open the school, one grade at a time, starting in 2012, in a four-story building where New York University now has classrooms. Community Board 2 unaminously approved the zoning change required for the move last month.
"Founded in 1894 by Grace Church as a boys' choir boarding school," the article said, "G.C.S. became coed in 1947 and has been governed by an independent board of trustees since 1972. It has a current enrollment of 413 students."
The school, the article continued, "has an endowment of about $20 million and plans to raise an estimated total of $20 million to $25 million more by the time the new high school's construction is complete around 2017.
"Our first phase will be classrooms on the first and second floors. A lot of the infrastructure is there already because it's been used as N.Y.U. classrooms," George Davison, the school's headmaster, said. The article said that the first phase will also include a cafeteria and library.
The big expense of the second phase, the article continued, will be a full-size gym on the fourth floor. Until the second phase is completed, students will use Chelsea Piers and East River Park for sports.
"We'll have to raise the roof a little for the gym, so we'll have to go to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for approval," Davison said, noting that the site, which is across from Cooper Union, is within the Noho Historic District.
The article said it plans to open the school, one grade at a time, starting in 2012, in a four-story building where New York University now has classrooms. Community Board 2 unaminously approved the zoning change required for the move last month.
"Founded in 1894 by Grace Church as a boys' choir boarding school," the article said, "G.C.S. became coed in 1947 and has been governed by an independent board of trustees since 1972. It has a current enrollment of 413 students."
The school, the article continued, "has an endowment of about $20 million and plans to raise an estimated total of $20 million to $25 million more by the time the new high school's construction is complete around 2017.
"Our first phase will be classrooms on the first and second floors. A lot of the infrastructure is there already because it's been used as N.Y.U. classrooms," George Davison, the school's headmaster, said. The article said that the first phase will also include a cafeteria and library.
The big expense of the second phase, the article continued, will be a full-size gym on the fourth floor. Until the second phase is completed, students will use Chelsea Piers and East River Park for sports.
"We'll have to raise the roof a little for the gym, so we'll have to go to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for approval," Davison said, noting that the site, which is across from Cooper Union, is within the Noho Historic District.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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