Johns Hopkins Gazette: March 6, 1995

Hopkins Submits Plan for Eastern High School


     The university is seeking to acquire the abandoned Eastern
High School building, use it for a variety of purposes and, over
time, develop the surrounding 26-acre property.

     The university was one of two applicants to submit a
proposal to the city of Baltimore before a Feb. 27 deadline. The
other has proposed a strip shopping center, a use reportedly
opposed by some community leaders in the Greater Homewood area.

     The university's proposal suggests that a possible use for
the 150,000-square-foot high school, built in 1939 and closed
since 1986, would be to split it roughly in thirds. One part
would be for direct university uses, such as continuing education
programs. Another would be an "incubator" for small businesses,
developed and operated by Dome Corp., a subsidiary of the
university and Johns Hopkins Health System. The remaining third
would be transformed by the Kennedy Krieger Institute into a high
school for special needs students.

      Eugene S. Sunshine, the university's senior vice president
for administration, said other uses might be proposed by the
city, the university or others.

     The university has proposed an initial payment to the city
of $100,000, followed by additional payments, up to a projected
total of as much as $2.2 million over as long as 20 years. The
additional payments would be made only as renovated space or
newly constructed buildings on the site are occupied by Hopkins
or others. The university's use of space ultimately would be
determined on the basis of specific need and financial
considerations.

     Sunshine said Hopkins has long been interested in the site--
on 33rd Street, across from Memorial Stadium and about a mile
east of Homewood--for two reasons.

     "First, the university is outgrowing its present facilities,
both at Homewood and on other campuses," he said. "Second, the
university is deeply interested in enhancing the vitality of the
neighborhoods in which it operates. This proposal can do just
that."

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