A long-vacant Grand Avenue school building could become a cafe where Fair Haven kids learn about agriculture, cooking, and entrepreneurship. Or a housing complex specifically for teachers, with a child-oriented gathering space in the former elementary school gym — or a “makerspace” collective, buzzing with artists at work.
These ideas surfaced on Wednesday evening when about fifteen Fair Haven neighbors gathered over Zoom to imagine new possible uses for the historic Strong School building, a massive 106-year-old brick building in Chatham Square that has sat unused for the last decade. The conversation was led by Interboro Partners, an architecture and urban planning-focused consulting firm contracted by the city to determine a new use for the school building.
The Grand Avenue building has sat empty after the Strong School moved to Orchard Street. Water has leaked into the…
