This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 6, 2011 - This time last year, pigeons were flocking in through the shattered windows of the long-vacant Beaux Arts building on Grand Boulevard right across the street from Powell Hall.
"Bird poo everywhere," recalls Lynne Glickert, principal of the Grand Center Arts Academy, which started classes last fall in the Third Baptist Church across the street until its new home could be renovated.
Now, it's students who are flocking to the school at 711 N. Grand, Glickert said Wednesday during a tour of the building's still unfinished $20 million transformation. When classes begin on Aug. 22 for sixth, seventh and eighth grades, more than 320 students are expected, up from 200 last year when the charter school offered only sixth and seventh grades.
By the time the academy completes its plan of adding one grade each year up to grade 12, Glickert said, enrollment will be capped at 750 students, but she thinks the city could accommodate many more fledgling singers, dancers, musicians and artists.
And, she added, that's true even though as a charter school, Grand Center Arts Academy isn't allowed to audition to choose the most talented applicants but has to be open to every student who lives in the city.
"We can't audition," Glickert explained, "but we do have students do a demonstration. We draw kids who have had a lot of formal training, like playing the violin since they were 3, but we also have students who haven't had that experience. It makes for a wonderful synergy.
"We had kids who really didn't know they had something special until they came here. If they were willing to show us something, that already shows that they are the right kind of student to come here. I really we believe we could have 10 arts schools in the city and not have enough classes."
Glickert emphasized that the academy pushes academics as hard as it pushes the arts, with classes running each day from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and many times longer. She also said that the school is not drawing students away from the performing arts magnet schools run by the St. Louis Public Schools.
She noted that despite the notorious social bent of sixth-graders, many students that age were willing to come to the Grand Center school without knowing anybody, just because they were attracted by what it had to offer and the setting in which it is located.
"No one school is sending us kids," Glickert said, "and what that is telling me is that there are lots of kids who need to be here. We're not bleeding students from any one school."
Instead, she said, it is taking advantage of its location among the many arts institutions in Grand Center to show young people what the arts world has to offer.
For example, she said, Powell Hall or Jazz St. Louis often make last-minute offers of unsold tickets to academy students, while the Contemporary Art Museum will open early and KETC will hold classes to teach students how to make videos.
"They all know we're in their backyard," Glickert said, "and they're tapping into our kids' being there."
That proximity was one of the selling points for 12-year-old Beloved James, who attended KIPP academy in south St. Louis last year but will enroll in seventh grade at the arts academy in the fall. As someone who has been performing since the age of 7, she said she is looking forward to getting in more work on her singing and dancing.
Her mother, Regina James, was impressed during Wednesday's tour at how the old building was being transformed while still maintaining much of its former character.
"This is a state-of-the-art school," she said. "When I learned about this school in the center of the arts districts, with all of the partnerships it had with the arts organizations, it had the feeling of being a Juilliard for little people. That was exciting."
Her excitement was matched by that of Glickert and developer Steve Smith of the Lawrence Group, which is doing the renovation. He said the project was funded by loans and by tax credits from the city and state.
Smith noted that the building once was the home for the Knights of Pythias, then was the headquarters for the Carter Carburetor Corp., whose name is still on the front. The bottom floors served as the first valet parking garage in what is now the Grand Center area. That parking area is being transformed into loft-like classrooms.
The building sat idle for many years, and when the construction project began, Smith said its condition was "typical of a building that has been vacant for two or three decades.
"But there was enough here that we knew what the architecture of the space was, so we could recreate it."
From an expansive dance studio to science labs to art classrooms and more, the space has come a long way, though it still appeared to have a long way yet to go before students begin showing up next month.
But with a large contingent of hard-hatted construction workers on the job, Smith is confident that the deadline will be met with no problems.
"They'll be done long before that," he said. "It'll come together. They're very close. It will happen."
Glickert echoed that optimism, saying:
"It's actually farther along than it looks. So they tell me."
Grand Center Arts Academy
Grand Center Arts Academy operates as part of the Confluence Academy group of five charter schools in St. Louis. It is managed by American Quality Schools and sponsored by Saint Louis University. Starting on July 13 through July 28, interested families and members of the community can tour the building on Wednesdays (8 a.m. and 10 a.m.) and Thursdays (1, 3 and 6 p.m.). Tours will also be available by appointment starting July 13.