275 Kingston (at Lincoln) to become museum dedicated to the Rebbe?

whynot_31

"The owners of a long-shuttered Kingston Avenue school building have reportedly signed a contract to sell the property for approximately $3,000,000. The buyer is reported to be Jewish Educational Media, who may be planning to open a museum dedicated to the Rebbe.Shmais.com reports that JEM entered into contract to purchase the 3-story, 9,000 square foot building for close to $3,000,000.The building, located at 275 Kingston Avenue, sits on the corner of Lincoln Place, just one block from 770 Eastern Parkway. It was home to the Magic Kingdom Nursery and Arista Prep School up to its closing a number of years ago.Shmais quotes sources as saying that “there is a plan on the table to open a small museum on the Rebbe on site.”This would be the second property that JEM is purchasing on the block. Back in 2011, they purchased 287 Kingston Avenue for $435,000. The building sits mostly gutted, with construction fencing and scaffolding surrounding the front of the property."

http://crownheights.info/crown-heights-news/445224/report-jem-to-buy-shuttered-school/

clayfilms

I'm baffled by this report...b/c I was just in that building 3 weeks ago and the daycare center was up and running. 

whynot_31

hmmm.

Is it merely poorly written?

Could the writer have meant to state that "it is presently be the home of Magic Kingdom Nursery, which replaced Arista Prep School a number of years ago"?

Does the daycare occupy the whole structure?

The new owners may have purchased the property from the daycare's landlord, with the lease intact.   Crownheights.info links this site, which seems to imply they have no plans to make it a museum in the immediate future:

http://www.shmais.com/chabad-news/latest/item/shmaiscom-exclusive-jem-buying-crown-heights-school-for-close-to-3000000

nothinlikeabklyngirl

Yeah I'm confused too. The daycare's definitely still open. I saw kids getting dropped off this morning. And there are at least three signs outside advertising that registration is now open for universal Pre-K. Never been inside though, so I can't say if it occupies the whole building.

nothinlikeabklyngirl

A few weeks ago I saw workers carrying out debris and then carrying in some kind of beams through a side entrance on Lincoln, so maybe the space is split inside. The daycare remains open.

whynot_31

Maybe construction is beginning with the unused back space, and when they are ready to work on the front space, they will not renew the lease of the daycare.

If I was going to create a museum to the Rebbe (...just go with me here...), I would want to utilize the visibility the front of this building provides.