WASHINGTON, DC-The administration of DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray is expected to name the winning bidder next month for the redevelopment of the Franklin School in downtown DC.
The Gray administration whittled down a pool of interested development firms earlier this year to four finalists. Some of the proposals have included the development of a museum at the landmark property or a boutique hotel.
Estimates for the cost of saving the building and rehabilitating it to modern standards run from around $15 million to more than $30 million, according to the Washington Post.
The school designed by Smithsonian architect Adolph Cluss and built in 1869, was the site of experiments by telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell and became the District's first high school. It later served as the headquarters of D.C. public schools and as a homeless shelter. It has been closed since 2008 and suffers from a leaking roof and rodent infestation. See story in the Washington Post.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
