Plan Commission to Consider Allowing Charter School in Fair Park Planetarium Building

We'll have more on this later today, when Uplift Education's Rosemary Perlmeter has a moment to talk. But for months, we'd been hearing that the Science Place Building 2 -- otherwise known as the space housing the Planetarium -- might be getting a new tenant. And, sure enough, there it...

By Robert Wilonsky

February 16, 2010

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We'll have more on this later today, when Uplift Education's Rosemary Perlmeter has a moment to talk. But for months, we'd been hearing that the Science Place Building 2 -- otherwise known as the space housing the Planetarium -- might be getting a new tenant. And, sure enough, there it is on the City Plan Commission's meeting agenda for Thursday: "an application for a Specific Use Permit for an Open-enrollment charter school" on the Fair Park property.

According to the agenda item, the school would have nine classrooms spread over 20,000 square feet for pre-K through fifth grade students, with max enrollment set for 250 students. Karl Crowley of Masterplan's handling the zoning case and tells Unfair Park this morning that -- for now, at least -- "this isn't a long-term deal." The CPC application is for a three-year SUP, with an automatic renewal option of two more years. Says Crowley, "It may evolve into 20 years, but, for now, it's short term." Perlmeter, he says, will be able to address questions about curriculum. Me, I'm thinking of opening a train museum at Fair Park.

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