Marshalling Abandoned Schools into The Future From Education to Community Housing, Reinvigorating a Local School for Residential Use in St. Louis, Missouri Project Summary Community: St. Louis, Missouri Technical Assistance: Site Reuse Design Former Use: School Building Future Use: Mixed-Use, Residential The former Marshall School is located in North St. Louis, Missouri along the historic Martin Luther King (MLK) Drive. The site covers approximately 1.5 acres and is occupied by the main educational building and a one-story annex added later. The Marshall School was named for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, and built in the Open E-Plan style. Designed by William Ittner, the school was built in 1900 and operated until 2003. The school is a contributing structure to the Ville Neighborhood Historic District and is listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is owned by the St. Louis Board of Education but is currently for sale. The Community's Challenge This historic site sits on a prominent corner along MLK Drive and has long been an institutional support for the community. However, since the school's closure, the site has sat vacant, underutilized, and, with swaths of pavement on the site, is contributing to the worsening heat island effect in the community. The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) is orchestrating several redevelopment efforts in the MLK area, including a nearby Innovation Center for small business entrepreneurship, and intends to work with the School District to bring the Marshall School site back into productive reuse. EPA's Land Revitalization Technical Assistance The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Brownfield and Land Revitalization (OBLR) and EPA Region 7 provided contractor technical assistance to SLDC to support the site reuse planning for the former Marshall School site. The team held a two-day visioning session with local stakeholders to gain insight into needed services and amenities in the neighborhood. The lack of affordable, quality housing options was among the top concerns voiced by community members during these sessions. Prior environmental site assessments (ESAs) found contamination on site from previous activities, including a fueling station, auto salvage yard, and repair shop around the site. Additional ESAs are recommended to further delineate the contamination on site. The final reuse plan was informed by local and environmental conditions and stakeholder feedback. The plan describes adaptively reusing the former Marshall School building as housing and utilizing the gym portion of the building for public use such as a daycare or community center. The plan recommends demolishing the non- contributing one-story building on site to allow space for new townhome development. Finally, along MLK Drive, the plan calls for a new mixed-use development that can provide affordable housing options and community services and retail to support activity on the street. The climate considerations of this site were also important to the redevelopment plan and incorporate permeable pavement, landscaping to provide natural shade, green roofs, and solar parking canopies. These elements can help alleviate the impacts of the heat island effect within the neighborhood. inn. sp^ Illustration of the reuse plan for the former Marshall School For more information, contact David Doyle, EPA Region 7 Brown fields Program, at Dovle.David@epa.gov. United States Environmental Protection ^*^1 M * Agency Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization 560-F-23-331 ------- |