Finally, a future for former Rhodes School

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 9/19/19

With master plan approval granted for a development featuring 30 single-family homes, the future of the Christopher Rhodes School – which closed in 2011 – has moved closer to fruition.

Ward 2 …

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Finally, a future for former Rhodes School

Posted

With master plan approval granted for a development featuring 30 single-family homes, the future of the Christopher Rhodes School – which closed in 2011 – has moved closer to fruition.

Ward 2 City Councilman Jeremy Rix is hopeful that the next step – demolition of the school, which has been a part of Norwood for about 70 years – will completed by the end of this year. He said Monday it would be a tremendous improvement to have the building, a target for vandals, cleared from the 10-acre site in preparation for the construction of homes.

Meeting last Wednesday, the Planning Board unanimously granted master plan approval for the subdivision of the lot and the extension of Sherwood Avenue. It also granted a waiver of city development regulations requiring sidewalks.

Developer Hugh Fisher of H.A. Fisher Homes will be providing concrete curbing to the extension of Sherwood Avenue, although curbing is absent from the rest of Sherwood Avenue and many of the surrounding streets.

There were few questions of Fisher, who held two informational meetings with homeowners since finalizing an agreement with the city in February to buy the property for $325,000. When asked what type of homes he would be building, Fisher simply responded, “beautiful.”

Fisher said the homes would sell in the range of $300,000 and be built in phases, with a model home being the first to go up. Fisher has built more than 1,200 single-family homes and condominiums in Rhode Island, keying in on what he has coined as “woman-centric” homes where floor plans and rooms are customized to the choice of the buyer. He said the homes would range from 1,500 to 2,000 square feet.

In remarks to the board, Rix said, “there are a lot of positives to the project.” He called a single-family home development “ideal for the neighborhood,” saying it will add value to existing homes and is the “best use for the land.”

After Rhodes closed as a school, the city Planning Department solicited requests for proposals to convert the building into an assisted living facility, but there were no takers. In response to additional offers for possible uses, the Artists’ Exchange in Cranston put together a comprehensive plan to use the building for its educational programs and entertainment, as well as to make studio space available to artists. It proposed to lease the property for a dollar a year, but even that proved impractical for the nonprofit organization, which backed away from its offer when the projected cost of renovations ran into the millions.

“This has been an issue close to my heart,” Heather Murphy told the board. Murphy served on the committee chaired by the late Bruce Place, a former City Council president, that explored possible uses for the school property. She was engaged in addressing concerns with the Fisher proposal, including whether there should be an entrance to the site other than Sherwood Avenue (a proposal opposed by neighbors), placement of the houses so as to minimize impact on neighbors as well as fencing and plantings.

“There have been many meetings, a very long process,” she said. Addressing Fisher, she said, “Thank you. We’re happy.”

Reached Tuesday, Fisher said asbestos removal at the school should start next week. He described the process as tedious, taking three to four weeks. Comparatively, the demolition will happen quickly, over three to four days.

In the meanwhile, Fisher said his people are completing the engineering work so that he can return to the Planning Board for preliminary approval. He expects approvals to be in place by early next year, with construction possibly starting in the spring.

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  • Justanidiot

    more homes fewer skuls sounds like gud planning to me

    Thursday, September 19, 2019 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    a future for rhodes skul -- a date wit a bull dozer

    Monday, September 23, 2019 Report this