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Demolition Of Long-Vacant Yonkers School 6 Begins

YONKERS, N.Y. – An Ashburton Avenue eyesore soon will be torn down, and a two-building apartment complex will stand in its place.

Demolition crews began tearing down Yonkers School 6 on Tuesday at 33 Ashburton Ave. An affordable housing complex will be built in its place.

Demolition crews began tearing down Yonkers School 6 on Tuesday at 33 Ashburton Ave. An affordable housing complex will be built in its place.

Photo Credit: Matt Bultman
Yonkers School 6 on Ashburton Avenue has been vacant for decades. Now an affordable housing complex will be built in its place.

Yonkers School 6 on Ashburton Avenue has been vacant for decades. Now an affordable housing complex will be built in its place.

Photo Credit: Matt Bultman
An artist's rendering of one of two buildings to be built on the lot of the former School 6 in Yonkers. An archway from the old building is to be preserved.

An artist's rendering of one of two buildings to be built on the lot of the former School 6 in Yonkers. An archway from the old building is to be preserved.

City and state officials gathered Tuesday with developers to signal the beginning of demolition of the long-vacant School 6. When completed, the lot at 33 Ashburton Ave. will be transformed into the Schoolhouse Terrace at Croton Heights, a mixed-income apartment complex for 121 families and seniors.

“We are finally taking the necessary steps to clear this longtime blighted area, transforming it to its greatest potential,” Mayor Mike Spano said.

Built in 1889, the stone building that once housed School 6 has been vacant since the school closed in 1987, falling into a state of disrepair too severe for preservation, city officials said.

Working with the project developers, Community Builders Inc., the city’s Municipal Housing Authority developed a plan to transform the lot, which the authority says is part of a larger plan to improve that entire section of the city.

“It’s time for renewal,” Spano said. “This marks the transformation of an area, but, more importantly, the entire Ashburton corridor.”

Construction on the complex is expected to begin in March and may be completed as soon as September 2014.  When finished, the Schoolhouse Terrace will feature a 70-unit building for families, while a second building will have 51 units for seniors.

The complex will also have a community room, playground space and an underground parking garage. An archway of the former school building will be preserved and used as part of the apartment complex.

“To bring down an eyesore and erect a place where people can live and enjoy, having memories of the past but the promise of a future, is really what this is about,” said state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers).

Money for the $58 million development comes from a mix of local, state and federal funding along with private investment.

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