In just 10 months, Civic Builders transformed a dilapidated church vestry into a vibrant, inspiring educational space for Democracy Preparatory Charter School in Harlem. The project, a long-term lease hold improvement initiative, represents a new development model for Civic. Civic secured a 22-year lease for the facility, performed a gut renovation and now subleases the facility to the school at a below market rate.
Democracy Prep opened its doors to 125 sixth graders in August of 2006, housed in a space provided by the Department of Education. Even before opening, however, the school realized that they would need additional space to accommodate their planned growth. Recognizing the need for a permanent solution to this facility challenge, the school embarked upon a private search under the guidance of their Board of Directors and with help from The Robin Hood Foundation. The school found a facility owned by St. Philips Episcopal Church, located just steps away from their current site, and began to negotiate a lease. After months of work, the school had to acknowledge that the project had become far too time consuming, financially taxing, and complex to handle on their own. Democracy Prep enlisted the help of Civic Builders in the spring of 2007.
The vestry, a 25,500 square foot, four-story, brick masonry building, was originally constructed in 1970. The building underwent a gut renovation, including a comprehensive reconfiguration of the first two floors. The completed facility consists of approximately 13 classrooms, a library, a gymnasium and administrative offices, and it will house the school's "Lower Academy", grades 6-8, while the "Upper Academy" remains in DOE space. The entire project took Civic 10 months to complete - on time for a fall 2008 opening.
Democracy Prep
Democracy Preparatory Charter School (DPCS) currently serves 400 students in grades 6-10, with plans to grow to over 600 students in grades 6-12 by 2012. With its dual focus on rigorous academics and "preparation for civic success", DPCS challenges its students to "Work hard, go to college and change the world!"
Statistics:
Democracy Preparatory Charter School
207 West 133rd Street, Harlem
Total Square Footage: 25,500
Students at Scale: 350
Grades: 6-8
Project Status: Completed 2008
Architects: Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects, P.C.
