Construction is nearing completion on The Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School, a five-story building at 647 Elton Avenue in Melrose, The Bronx. Designed in a collaboration between ESKW/Architects and IMC Architecture and developed by Pillar Property Management, the 69,000-square-foot structure is named after New York Knicks basketball player Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. The facility will feature an 8,000-square-foot gymnasium, 27 classrooms, a library and media production studio, and a dedicated broadcast studio with a green screen.
The property is located at the three-way intersection of Elton Avenue, Third Avenue, and East 153rd Street.
Construction broke ground in October 2024, and the structure now stands almost fully enclosed in its façade of red and gray brick surrounding a grid of recessed windows. Work is still finishing up on the ground floor, which remains obscured by the sidewalk shed.
647 Elton Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
The rendering in the main photo previews the finished look of the ground floor. The northeast corner will feature an angled double-height cutout clad in floor-to-ceiling glass, providing views into the lobby atrium. Signage for the facility will be located above on the eastern elevation along Elton Avenue.
The property was formerly occupied by a row of residential buildings between 647 and 653 Elton Avenue, as seen in the below Google Street View image from before the start of demolition.
647 Elton Avenue. Image via Google Maps.
The facility will also include a student dining center and lounge in the cellar, which will serve as a multi-functional space for social gatherings and studying. A lounge on the second floor will offer VIP seating for games. There will also be a library with a media center and conference room and an executive director’s office. The third through fifth floors will primarily house classrooms. The school is planned to serve up to 440 students from grades nine through 12.
The nearest subways from the ground-up development are the 2 and 5 trains at the 3rd Avenue–149th Street station to the south.
Construction on 647 Elton Avenue is to finish in the next few months.
No comments:
Post a Comment