Historic school becomes community outreach center and offices for one of St. Louis’ most active non-profits. 

Working in some of St. Louis’ poorest communities, few other St. Louis non-profits make things happen like Beyond Housing. They brought a grocery store, a bank, a movie theater, a coffee house/café and a senior living facility to the City of Pagedale (the first of their kind in this St. Louis suburb in as long as most can remember). And in the community of Pine Lawn, they’ve transformed several city blocks, replacing vacant buildings and overgrown lots with new single-family housing, a senior living facility, and a new city park. But as their name implies, their goal is to provide more than affordable housing. To that end, they tapped E.M. Harris to renovate Pine Lawn’s historic Garfield School (a William Ittner building) and its more recent addition into office space and a community outreach center, including classrooms, an auditorium, and a kitchen with full exhaust and ANSUL system for staff use and community cooking classes. Renovations included roofing, masonry restoration, all new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, elevator, windows, architectural railings, terrazzo refinishing, interior finishes, a high-tech computer system, and a security system, including exterior and interior cameras, motion sensors, and alarms on all doors. Sitework included new site utilities, grading, fencing, landscaping, and signage.