Making Way For The Info Age
The Boston Globe
March 2, 2002
By Thomas Grillo
After 84 years, Ellis the Rim Man, the landmark auto parts and accessories store with the red roof sign overlooking Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton, has closed out the chrome wheels and the sheepskin seat covers to make way for video equipment and laptop computers.
The building is undergoing a $4.8 million renovation to become Media and Technology Charter High, one of just a few nonprofit charter schools to have found a permanent home. Founded last year, MATCH currently rents 4,000 square feet on the third floor of a Brookline synagogue. When the school's new building opens in the fall, it will have five times the space, plus another 10,000 square feet on the third floor to rent out.
"Having our own building means we can have larger classrooms, a science lab, an auditorium/cafeteria, reading, research, conference, and counseling areas," said Charles Sposato, MATCH's principal. "Now, when if I want a private conference, I have to kick people out of the closet that I use."
Last fall, Edward Ellis, 64, president of the auto parts store and son of the late Morris "Moe" Ellis, who founded the business in 1917, sold the property to MATCH for $4.2 million. The business, which originally opened in the South End as Ellis the Used Rim Man, is closing for good. The building at Babcock Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton was purchased in the 1960s for $160,000, in an area known as Automobile Row. In addition to custom wheels, Ellis sold everything from floor mats to luggage racks and stocked novelties such as Tiger in Your Tank tails that attached to the gas cap.
Linda Brown, director of the Massachusetts Charter School Resource Center, a division of the Pioneer Institute, a conservative Boston research group and early supporter of charter schools, said the biggest roadblock for them is finding homes.
"The state says you can start a charter school, have the dream, share the vision, and join the effort to boost student achievement - only to discover you can't find space," Brown said.
Charter schools are independent public schools, free from many state regulations and not bound by union contracts. Since their inception in the 1990s, they have been controversial, in part because the per-pupil state funding that would go to a school district is sent instead to the charter school.
A Boston Globe analysis of 10th grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test scores last year found that the Academy of Pacific Rim, a charter high school, finished 28th out of 268 school districts. Health Careers Academy, another charter school, finished 228th, while Boston public schools and City on a Hill Community Charter School tied for the 236th spot. All three of the charter schools are in Boston.
In all, there are 42 charter schools in Massachusetts. They enroll more than 15,000 students from more than 200 school districts. There are about 11,000 students on waiting lists.
This week, the state Board of Education voted to award five new charters, one in Greenfield and four in Boston, setting up a scramble for real estate. Brown said it is rare for charter schools to find locations like the Ellis site, because retailers and developers gobble up prime sites. Boston University and Tower Records considered acquiring the Ellis site, but were outmaneuvered by the school. "Sometimes the giant is sleeping and the small guy comes along and quietly puts the deal together," Brown said. The school faced a daunting task in financing the deal, though.
Todd Rassiger, vice president at MassDevelopment, the state's economic development agency, said few charter schools receive capital financing because, like start-up companies, they must face skeptical bankers. But MATCH worked out an unusual $9 million package.
MassDevelopment issued a $5.2 million Qualified Zone Academy Bond, a little-known bond available for school renovations. The tax-free bond allows the school to get a zero percent interest loan while the lender, Boston Private Bank & Trust, is exempt from state and federal taxes. Fleet Financial Corp. provided a conventional mortgage at $3.5 million, and the school raised the rest.
In February, MATCH received a $106,500 grant from Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, to incorporate renewable energy systems into the school's new home, including a 30-kilowatt solar power system.
"The 20th century was the Age of the Automobile, and this building was home to Ellis the Rim Man, and before that, to Lincoln Motors," said Michael Goldstein, MATCH's founder.
"But the 21st century will be the Information Age, and what could be a better fit than a technology-themed high school, especially one powered by renewable energy?"
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2002 Headlines |
Making Way for the Info Age
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