Duke ellington school of the arts renovation

By Katie PearceCurrent Staff Writer

An $82 million renovation of the acclaimed Duke Ellington School of the Arts is now set to launch, after various partners signed off on a community agreement last week.

The agreement includes a vast reduction of uses for a rooftop “Skyview Terrace” that designers originally envisioned as an outdoor performance space with room for 800.

In response to various community concerns, the revised concept allows for mainly classroom uses and an approximately 45-person capacity.

Friday’s signing event, which drew Mayor Vincent Gray and other city officials, was a final step to allow the massive project to proceed.

By fall 2016, the now-vacant arts school at 3500 R St. will be approximately 107,000 square feet larger, with a new 850-seat theater and an underground parking lot, among other new features and performance spaces.

“We have been able to work to find what I think is an extraordinary solution,”