Stores into schools

Empty mall in Tallahassee, Fla.

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com

As a citylab.com fan, I also can’t resist touting an article headlined “Blue Light Special: The Chicago-area High School in an Old Kmart’’. It tells the story of how a design firm turned an abandoned department store in Waukegan, Ill., into a spiffy, bright school.  There are many old and decayed school buildings in New England – indeed Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has proposed a $1 billion plan to fix them over the next five years; best estimates suggest  that $3 billion is needed in that tiny state alone.

But with so many large store buildings around here empty because of Amazon, etc., why not see if some could be converted into school buildings at a lower cost and with better design  than we’d get by renovating existing school buildings. Consider that many New England public  schools are more than 50 years old! Most big-box stores, vacant and otherwise, are younger.

To read more, please hit this link.