INHS was recently recognized by Historic Ithaca for its adaptive reuse and green preservation of the former school site, Founders Way. Every year, Historic Ithaca presents awards for sensitive restoration and preservation projects within Tompkins County.

INHS purchased the vacant parochial school from Immaculate Conception Church, and two additional parcels abutting the property, in 2019. the properties included in the sale that would be utilized for this project were the approximately 56,000 school foot main school building at 320 W. Buffalo Street, a vacant c. 1850 Greek Revival home that formerly served as the residence of the parish priest at 330 W. Buffalo Street, and an, early 20^th century residential building containing two rental apartments at 309 N. Plain Street. The project was completed in late 2022.

WORK PERFORMED

INHS’s vision was to redevelop the unique property into a vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income community, involving both rehab and new construction, designed to address high-priority local needs. INHS held four community meetings during the planning stages of development to engage neighbors and community members. They provided feedback on architectural designs, characteristics of the buildings, and landscape features to ensure the development stayed true to the look and feel of the historic Northside neighborhood.  INHS also consulted Sanborn maps to better understand the evolution of the neighborhood over the years as the school expanded its footprint.

Considering feedback from the community sessions, map research, and project plans between INHS and its development partners, these significant elements of work were performed, with the integrity and history of the property and neighborhood and green building practices in mind:

• Retention of the north (c. 1948) wing of the existing school building,
• Demolition of the smaller south (c. 1920s) wing of the school
• construction of a new four-story wing connecting to the retained north wing to form an “L”,
• Demolition of 309 N. Plain Street
• Construction of two groups of rental townhomes facing on W. Buffalo and N. Plain Streets where Sanborn maps showed there had previously been homes there were demolished as the school expanded ,
• Retention and restoration of the primary character-defining features of the Greek Revival house at 330 W. Buffalo and conversion of that building to two rental apartments, and finally,
• Detaching the c. 1965 gymnasium wing from the school, subdividing it onto its own lot, and selling that parcel to the City of Ithaca for the use of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center.

Green building practices at the Founders Way project include:

• Sustainable Comfort, a leading Green Building consultant, was retained to provide whole-building energy modeling and ensure compliance with the selected green building programs,
• STREAM Collaborative, INHS’s local architect for the initial design and the land use approval process, brought their knowledge of the City of Ithaca’s newly-adopted Green Codeto the design of the project,
• The multi-family building employed electric Variable Refrigerant Packaged heat pumps, with internal heat recovery ventilation, for heating and cooling,
• All lights in the project are LED, and occupancy sensors have been utilized in hallways and common areas, with photo sensors used for exterior lighting,
• All plumbing fixtures are Water Sense® compliant: toilets use 20% less water than regular low flush toilets, 0.5 gpm aerators on lavatory faucets use 75% less water than regular faucets, and 1.75 gpm or less shower heads use 20% less water than regular shower heads,
• Compliance with the Energy Star program including the Indoor Air Package, which is designed to improve indoor air quality and occupant health,
• Compliance with the Enterprise Green Communities certification program
• Compliance with the NYSERDA New Construction Certification Program

The redevelopment of the site created 75 units of rental housing that are affordable to a range of household incomes and family sizes, adaptively re-using as much of the existing school building as practicable, preserving the circa 1850 Greek Revival house and restoring its primary character-defining features, and restoring the residential rhythm of the streetscape by constructing two new groups of rental townhomes along Buffalo and Plain. The project retains a cherished historic building while repurposing it to meet the community’s current needs.

The project meets the requirements of the Enterprise Green Communities program, the NYSERDA Low Rise New Construction program, and the Ithaca Green Building Policy.

View the before and after photos here.