Exposed Chalkboards Rather Than Exposed Brick

• February 5, 2013
• 10 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

When developers started digging into the former Edmonds School building on Capitol Hill, the site of a new 30-unit condo/townhouse project, they were inspired by what they discovered.

Behind the aging drywall, developers CAS Riegler and Ditto Residential found chalkboards of varying sizes that still had writing and drawings on them from the building’s former life. (The Edmonds School was built in 1903.) Cursive lessons, names and a striking chalk drawing of a woman with a parasol and a baby on her back are some of the artifacts that were discovered.

CAS Riegler’s Adam Stifel told UrbanTurf that they want to turn the discovery into an amenity for future residents. The large, embedded chalkboards will be part of the condo units, which will range from junior one-bedrooms to three-bedroom lofts. They will expose the chalkboards the way builders expose brick, and residents will likely be able to use them for their intended purpose.

As for the smaller boards, they plan to preserve and display them somewhere in the building, perhaps in common areas or in units themselves. They are also hoping to find a use for the graffiti-covered rafters, which were also uncovered during demolition.

Readers, do you like the idea of a usable chalkboard wall in your home?

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/exposed_chalkboards_rather_than_exposed_brick/6613

10 Comments

1. Rell said at 4:06 pm on Tuesday February 5, 2013:

   I would absolutely love a usable chalkboard as a wall. Grocery lists for days.

1. Janson said at 5:17 pm on Tuesday February 5, 2013:

   I renovated a wall in my apartment, expecting to see brick but instead found subway tile wainscotting and a large chalkboard. My building was last used as a school in the 30’s, so the chalboard is just a dark green paint on a raised stucco square. I certainly it exposed!

1. John Muller said at 8:05 pm on Tuesday February 5, 2013:

   My gut is the school was named for Senator Edmunds, a champion of the District.

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_F._Edmunds

1. Calvin H. Gurley said at 8:41 pm on Tuesday February 5, 2013:

   Now we know the future plans of School Chancellor Henderson to renovate the 20 closed schools into a developer’s meal ticket. 

   There has to be a moratorium on conversions of schools, corner stores and the proposed ADU’s (garages) into high price housing units. Density will cause stress, air pollution, anger and rage and the European plague of a crowded city.  D.C. drinking water is contaminated with lead and other toxins and air quality is poor.

   Over crowding is what happens when most on the Council are not familiar with Lady Bird’s Beautification Project for the District.

   However, developers don’t give a hoot about the down side of over development; they [developers] have to put food on their table too. 

   Calvin H. Gurley

1. Christopher said at 9:51 am on Wednesday February 6, 2013:

   Easy Calvin… This school was owned privately and used as a bank before sold to the developer. It hasn’t belonged to DC, nor has it been used as a school in over 50 years.

1. Lisa Wise said at 12:43 pm on Friday February 8, 2013:

   The plans for this project look outstanding and we know the developer will do all they can to honor and preserve the history of the building. Very exciting stuff!

1. Steve D said at 1:50 pm on Tuesday February 12, 2013:

   Hey Calvin Gurley, you realize like TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND more people lived in DC 60 years ago, right? Facts are stubborn things, no?

1. NPS said at 2:02 pm on Tuesday February 19, 2013:

   As a lover of History, and given the District’s great wealth in this department, I appreciate the developer’s preservation and implementation of such artifacts.

1. Accuracy said at 2:56 am on Monday March 11, 2013:

   Christopher, let me correct your inaccurate information.  After the school closed it’s doors, it was rented by the DCPS to the National Association of Equal Opportunity for Higher Education—to serve as their headquarters.  Thereafter, it was rented to the DC Teachers Federal Credit Union—as office space, NOT A BANK.  In the latter years, it was rented to a Day Care center.  DCPS recently sold the building to the developer.

   Christopher, sometimes silence is golden——and if you do not know the history, please don’t make it up!

1. Christopher said at 5:21 pm on Tuesday April 23, 2013:

   Well you are just totally wrong.

   DCTFCU was the owner and seller. Check the website. Its one of the first things you will see. DCTFCU HAS SOLD EDMOND BUILDING! http://dctfcu.org/ .

   Oh and guess what a credit union is… Its a bank.

   Silence

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