Newport development: Apartments planned on a former school site

Chris Mayhew | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Newport development replaces historic school The Academy on 4th is a mixed-use apartment and retail center being built near Newport on the Levee on the site of a former school.

NEWPORT – Work is underway on a $37 million project to build 202 apartments and first-floor storefronts on the former Fourth Street Elementary School site.

The Academy on 4th, featuring views of Downtown Cincinnati, will take about 18 months to complete, said Newport City Manager Tom Fromme.

Newport on the Levee is a block away from the blocklong mixed-use development on Fourth Street. The Academy on 4th is bordered by Monmouth Street to the west and Saratoga Street to the east.

The new development will join more than 700 other existing and planned apartments in Newport's downtown, Fromme said.

Indiana-based CRG Residential purchased the old school building and two acres of land for $2.6 million in 2016. The 1936-built school was demolished.

CRG worked with the city to preserve portions of a historic stone wall that created a border between the school and sidewalk, according to a city of Newport release.

Materials from inside the school were donated by CRG to local charities.

"This site has always been used for education, and that's what inspired our name," said David George, CRG's vice president of development. "The name 'Academy on 4th' is a nod to the community and for what the site has been used for."

Different kinds of schools were housed at the site for more than 200 years.

From 1799-1817 a building there was the Newport Academy, a private institution said to be the first school in Northern Kentucky. Mayor Jerry Peluso said it was one of the earliest schools west of Pittsburgh.

In the 1850s the city's first public school, known as the "Free School," was built on the property. The building stood until 1935.

In 1936, the former Fourth Street Elementary school was built as a Works Progress Administration project.

The school building was operated as Newport Intermediate School until the spring of 2016.

The Enquirer reported in 2014 the process of how Newport Independent Schools courted offers for the school property.

Reporter Melissa Reinert recounted some of her Fourth Street Elementary School memories in a 2016 article.

Newport officials promoted their connections to the school as well in the city news release.

Fromme attended Fourth Street Elementary. Peluso said he played baseball on the school's playground as a child.

Peluso and Fromme both applauded the development for bringing more people to live in the urban core.

"The Academy on 4th will bring more residents downtown and continues the city's vision of encouraging downtown living," Peluso said.