Higher Ground Academy: FOLLOWING NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES

Higher Ground Academy is a K-12 charter school located at 1381 Marshall Avenue in Saint Paul. The current location serves approximately 600 students, mainly of East African descent. The Higher Ground Academy is exploring relocating the middle and high school programs to a new location at 317 Marshall Avenue, at the CLC building site currently occupied by Saint Paul College.

Project Scope
Approximately 10,000 square feet of an existing one-story building on the site will be remodeled, and 35,000 square feet of new construction will be added to the site to accommodate 450 students in the 7-12 charter school program.
The design for the new building will use materials and colors that complement the neighborhood and Saint Paul College. Construction is to start in the fall of 2018 and be completed for occupancy in the fall of 2019. Higher Ground Academy and Saint Paul College hope to create a collaborative partnership in developing a new building and curriculum at this site, that will flexibly work for both institutions.

Zoning Variances

The school will be applying to the City of St. Paul for a few zoning variances for the project. The required zoning variances are:

• The proposed building footprint will cover more than the 30% of the site.
• The rear yard setback next to the parking area will be less than the required 25’.
• Parking will be accommodated through a shared parking agreement with St. Paul College.

They will be holding a community forum to discuss their project, and they will be also meeting with our Neighborhood Development Committee. At this time, we are unsure when their hearings will be scheduled, but we intend to update this as soon as those dates are set.

March 19, 2018
Community Forum Night, 7 pm
Saint Paul College, Room 1510

March 20, 2018
Meeting with Neighborhood Development Committee, 6 pm
​Very limited space.