In addition to being a place of education, the historic Franklin School has been a homeless shelter, a focal point for an Occupy D.C. protest, a lab for telecommunications breakthroughs and most recently, an abandoned falling apart building. Well, now it can add art museum to its list of functions. Developer EastBanc won the bid to transform the the former school, built in 1869 into the Institute for Contemporary Expression. In addition to the art galleries throughout the building, there will be a bookstore, cafe and classrooms for educational purposes. So, in the end putting Michelle Obama in renderings didn't help competitor Douglas Development in their bid to turn the building on the National Register of Historic Places into a hotel. Go ahead and have fun with that sliding tool and see how the currently dilapidated interior walls will look once completed.
· Historic Franklin School in downtown D.C. to become arts destination [WBJ]
· Franklin School [Official Site]
· Franklin School (Washington D.C.) [Wikipedia]
· All Franklin School Coverage [CDC]
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