Graeme Stewart School residential makeover moving ahead

The old Graeme Stewart School at 4525 N. Kenmore Avenue in Uptown is preparing for its big makeover as a residential complex. A new permit issued yesterday will allow the building’s new owner to begin work on interior renovations which will eventually see the creation of 64 new residences in the former public school building. The estimated cost of the renovation is listed on the permit as $11.4 million with design duty being handled by architecture firm Pappageorge Haymes.

Originally completed in 1905, the former public school was shuttered by the city in 2013. Around the time the school was shuttered, 46th Ward Alderman James Cappleman suggested that it would have cost the city nearly $15 million to get the building up to code. The school was officially sold for $5.1 million to developer Morningside USA in early 2016.

The old Graeme Stewart School is an important piece of Uptown architecture and history and even was the childhood school of big names like actor Harrison Ford and directors William Friedkin and Philip Kaufman, according to Uptown Update. Despite its long and storied career as a neighborhood school, the building will soon become the home to dozens of people.

• Permit [Chicago Cityscape]
• Stewart School Sold, Residential Units Coming As Construction Begins: Ald. [DNAinfo]