Sweeping renovations would make former elementary school one of NWI's 'crown jewels'

After sitting vacant for a year and a half, there's new hope on the horizon for the future of the former Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary school.

Michael Reese, whose firm Hestia Investments purchased the school in 2021, last week released the outline of renovation plans for Phase 1 of the project. Architectural renderings call for sweeping changes at the Hartley building, which has sat empty since classes dismissed for the final time in the spring of 2021.

The main focus of the renovated building will be childcare programming and residential apartments.

"After acquiring the property it became clearer that there is a greater opportunity, one that should make the former school one of the crown jewels in the area," Reese said.

Phase 1 of renovation plans call for construction of a two-story steel structure to be built around the existing one-story portion on the west side of the building. Reese explained the addition would allow Hestia to build new apartments instead of retrofitting living space from classrooms. Plans call for approximately 30 apartments ranging from studio to three-bedroom units.

"Our original intent was to take the upstairs classrooms in the building and convert them into approximately 12-16 apartments," Reese said. "With expanding the scope it also created many more architectural and engineering challenges that we are currently working through, but we now feel comfortable enough to share Phase 1 of the renovation project."

The existing one-story portion of the school will house childcare programming. Renderings also call for an addition to the north that will provide tenants access to the building without interacting with children on the first floor.

Reese noted more announcements would be made in the near future.

"Once the plans have been finalized, we will share them with the community," he said.

Since purchasing the old school for $100 from the H-M-S school board last December, Hestia Investments has done very little at the building while plans were in development. However, a bad roof on the west side prompted immediate action. Though it wasn't completely replaced, Reese said repairs eventually stopped a deluge of water from soaking the building.

"With the intent to build a structure on top of the existing building, it obviously made no sense to put a new roof on," he explained. "In doing so, we fought an ocean of water in the west part of the building for a good portion of the summer. However, continual work on our part now has the building bone dry where no water at all is leaking in any part of the building, which is a major feat in itself."

Immediately, light demo work will take place inside the building and construction windscreens will be installed along the fence so "the community doesn't have to endure the process," Reese said.

"The rest of the building has been mapped out as well and we are continuing to work on the architecture and enginnering related to those other sections of the building," he explained. "We would also like to thank the community for their patience during our preparation stages and would also like to thank all of the neighbors in the area for volunteering for random tasks during this past year."

Reese granted the Sentinel-News an exclusive interview following the release of Phase 1 plans. What follows are his responses.

What are some of the architectural and engineering challenges you noted that you are working through?

Michael Reese: We are just making sure everything is right. Because the plan calls for erecting a steel skeleton for additional floors above the original section, the challenge is to ensure that it will work correctly.

How large is the childcare portion of the project and what sort of programming do you plan on offering?

MR: The childcare and learning portion of the project will take up the entire first floor of that part of the building. We will most likely renovate a classroom that can also be utilized for other meetings as well.

As noted by constituents during the school board meeting last December, Hartley already has a daycare center in town as well as a few in-home options. Are you concerned about enrollment numbers due to a potential lack of need?

MR: We are very cognizant of the existing options for childcare. We are not looking to compete with them. The idea is to eliminate waiting lists and to attract children from other areas by eliminating their waiting lists as well. We are also looking at more specific programming from the traditional childcare model.

In fact, we are so adamant not to compete with the existing entities that we want to create an environment where we are all working together. Once we get farther along, we will spell out these initiatives.

Do you have a projected cost on Phase 1? How are you financing it, and is Hestia Investments the lead developer here?

MR: Our companies are private and we do not share figures with the public.

Is 30 apartments the goal for entire project once Phase 1 and Phase 2 are completed?

MR: The apartments and childcare initiatives are both part of Phase 1. As we are working on the Phase 1 planning, we are also working on plans/engineering for the rest of the building in additional phases.

Do you have the layout of the apartments finalized? If so, what will they look like?

MR: We have general layouts completed. The apartments will reflect the same type of style/amenities you would see in new apartment construction found in urban areas. While we are working on the final plans, we're continuing to tweak the apartment layouts for a better tenant experience. The apartments are still geared towards working professionals.

You noted water issues that stemmed from the leaking roof. Additionally, you had noted in January the building was without utilities. Are you concerned about mold or any other weather-related issues moving forward?

MR: No.

While we were experiencing leakage issues earlier in the year, we were getting the water swept out relatively

quickly. We also ensured there was good ventilation moving through the building including usage of a PPV fan. We weatherized again late this year so we should be set for another winter without much concern. I actually feel more confident now than I did last year at this time concerning winter.

When do you want to start construction?

MR: If I had a magic wand, we would have started already. However, we will officially start the construction once all the plans are in place and signed off.

It is more important we are doing these things right with a lot of thought invested. Once we feel comfortable, we'll begin. I am hoping it will be first part of the spring for the steel. In the meantime, we'll still have construction-related activity going on in the building.

What is the expected duration of Phase 1?

MR: Ideally, I would like to be in position we will be far enough along that we could have tenants in at least part of the building by fall. Again, we'll see how everything goes in the meantime but it will take as long as needed to get it right even if that means pushing my ideal dates back.

What's all being demolished on the inside?

MR: Little things like carpet being pulled, lockers coming out, doors coming off, etc. Nothing to get overly excited about, but small tasks that need to be done. That also gives us the opportunity to be looking at the building closer.

Do you have plans for the gym area?

MR: We do and will announce those in the future. Although we are not announcing anything now, the rest of the project phases will revolve around the community and business.

Do you have plans for the north portion of the property (playground, parking lot)?

MR: Yes. Every square foot of the property will be utilized. The playground and parking lot are included but it will look different when the project is completed.

Who is the architecture firm that developed plans?

MR: The architectural plans are all originated internally.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

MR: Hopefully, by the renderings the public can see we are putting a lot of effort into this project and we are adamant of doing things right.

We have intentionally flown under the radar but have told a select few about the scope of the entire project so they have an idea of our direction. With this announcement, more information will be provided to the community on a regular basis. We needed to get to a certain point before I was comfortable with the progress and direction of the project.