See inside the renovation of Lansing’s historic Walter French school

LANSING — The renovation of the former Walter French School will include childcare, something other housing developments should consider, said Tom Perez, a former U.S. Labor secretary who visited the construction site Tuesday.

Perez, now director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, said childcare will help make the difference for people who will live in the renovated school, which should have 76 one- to three- units at "affordable" rates available for rent by the end of 2024.

The backside of the school, formerly the gym and pool area, will be converted into a daycare center along with office space for Capital Area Housing Partnership, which is redeveloping the school, and for other non-profits. Those are expected to open around this time next year, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the building.

"We like to maintain the history and we're hearing from a lot of people who are saying 'I remember when my daughter did gymnastics here,'" Mayor Andy Schor said.

City leaders, along with Perez, toured the former middle school Tuesday and gave an update on the project, which received some funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

CAHP Executive Director Emma Henry said the project is on schedule and on track to meet its $35 million budget. About two-thirds of the cost was from private sources. The project has funding from a variety of public sources as well: $1.5 million in Ingham County housing trust dollars, low-income housing credits, $5 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Revitalization and Placemaking program and city tax credits.

Henry said several smaller grants were also vital to the project.

Perez, who was in the Detroit area Monday to recognize housing upgrades funded by rescue dollars, said it was an impressive array of grants and funding sources, as Henry showed him a nearly-finished unit, with an original brick window sill that was rebuilt along with new windows that were designed from original blueprints.

The large and bright windows will help keep people coming, Perez said, with a lot of natural light and a good view.

The windows were a key feature, and when they were installed earlier this year, the community hummed with excitement because it signaled that the building would really be redone and improved, Henry said.

The windows show a view of Cedar Street that should improve over time, said Schor, who said the city is planning several revitalization projects along the southern corridor.

As Perez and city officials toured the under-construction building on Tuesday, they went into the back sections of the former school, where the offices and daycare center will be located.

On the ground was a badminton shuttlecock, obviously decades old but intact.

It will be used at the new childcare center: A little once-hidden treasure to help connect the old school with the new children.

The daycare center will be run by Santrece Roberts, who owns the multi-site Caterpillar Corner Childcare Center, with locations in Pontiac and Lansing with a Flint one opening later this year.

She plans to open the Monarch Early Learning Center, with eight room and spots for 100 children, at Walter French around this time next year.

Contact Mike Ellis at 517-267-0415 or mellis@lsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: See inside the renovation of Lansing’s historic Walter French school