In downtown St. Paul, the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists draws high school students eager to sing, dance and learn. The young minds spent the end of their January terms off-site last week, only to return to their charter school to find some chilly — and in some cases, wet — surprises.
Cold temperatures left some third-floor classrooms unusable, and school officials found water dripping from the ceiling into an outer lobby off St. Peter street, among other hazards. The problems were blamed by school administrators on the troubled Lowry Apartments next door at Fourth and Wabasha streets, which were recently condemned.
The Lowry Apartments are not within the same building, but the two structures — both named Lowry — border each other, and there’s no evidence the apartment building has an active, on-site property manager, according to school officials.
The Lowry Apartments building in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Devanie Andre / Pioneer Press)
“As we returned to campus this morning we were met with some facilities issues throughout the school and building, the bulk of which happened over the weekend,” wrote an administrator for the charter high school, which is located within the Lowry building at 16 West Fifth St., in an email to parents on Tuesday.
Cold classrooms
Classrooms in some parts of the third floor were cold, though some rooms increased in temperature throughout the day to reach the low-to-mid 60s. Another room was still in the upper 50s as of Tuesday afternoon, so a creative writing class was moved to the basement.
“We had water coming in from the ceiling into the lobby of the Lowry building (not inside the school, but in the first floor common entrance area off St. Peter St.),” reads the notice to parents. “We have two restrooms on the third floor currently out of commission due to water issues.”
Calls to the school’s principal and superintendent were not returned Wednesday.
The city of St. Paul cleared dozens of tenants from the 11-story Lowry Apartments in December and condemned the property after finding both water and electrical issues. School officials believe the problems have seeped over.
“We share multiple walls and easements with this building that just shut down all of their major systems in the middle of winter and currently has no active management,” reads the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists notice to parents. “We are now seeing the relationship between the two buildings from a facilities perspective, amplified by the cold weather.”
A plan going forward
Officials at the high school said in the written notice they are “working hard to minimize the damage and figure out a plan going forward” while focusing on areas that need immediate attention. Others are being roped into that effort.
Beyond the school itself, the Lowry building is home to additional commercial and residential tenants, and the school officials noted that heating and cooling is provided by District Energy.
With issues mounting, the city of St. Paul asked the courts last August to appoint a receiver for the Lowry Apartments. The Halvorson and Blaiser Group, who became acting landlords, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The Lowry Apartments were purchased for $7 million at a foreclosure auction last September by a subsidiary of real estate company Colliers International. An attorney involved in that transaction did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
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