Address: 2005 E. Lake St., Minneapolis
Type: Education
Size: 87,000 square feet
Developer: Minneapolis Public Schools
Architect: UrbanWorks Architecture
Details: Work is expected to begin shortly on Minneapolis Public Schools' new E. Lake Street adult education building after the Minneapolis City Council gave its approval to the project last month.
The site, located near South High School and the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, was once home to an 1892 building that for many years housed the headquarters of the Burma-Vita Co., makers of Burma Shave and its famous roadside, rhyming ads. (Keep well, to the right, of the oncoming car. Get your close shaves, from the half-pound jar. Burma Shave) Overcoming the opposition of neighborhood preservationists, that building was demolished by the district in January.
In its place will be an 87,000-square-foot building for the district's Adult Education and Transition Plus programs. The Adult Education program, which offers GED prep classes and testing, is now at the former Brown Institute building at East Lake and Hiawatha. It will be demolished for another development.
The Transition Plus program, which trains adults on finding employment, is in the Wilder School at 3320 Elliot Av. S.
The design from UrbanWorks Architecture calls for a three-story building — a wing for each of the two programs as well as a central space, to be called the town hall, which will be a meeting space for the school and the community. Occupancy is expected by fall 2018.
