Click the link below to see an enlargement
The BFL Cultural Center and Museum will break ground in the summer of 2007. It will be a $4.5 Million renovation of the old Ralph Waldo Emerson School, which is listed on the State and National Historic Registry.
The building will house various visual and peforming arts programs and activities which include BLACK DANCE-USA, which is one of the nation's largest and longest running African dance festivals (1,000-1,500 attendees a year) and Kwanzaa Celebration and Expo, which is also one of the largest and longest running events of its kind. (at one point this event drew over 15,000 attendees)
The architect of this school was William B. Ittner, who also designed the Missouri Athletic Club and the 1921 Scottish Rite Cathedral.
The hope is that this 60,000 sq. ft. facility will attract over 20,000 people to North St. Louis each year. Big supporters have already announced their public support including Mayor Slay, the Aldermanic Board, Charter Communications, AmerenUE CDC and Congressman Clay. The photo below is fairly recent. Its a shot of their staff in front of the building.
What makes the project so unusual is that BFL is a CDC, so the facility will also have a portion of its use dedicated to social service delivery. BFL usually attracts clients to its social services via its arts programming.
They provide a lot of stuff like - 1st time home buyer education and foreclosure prevention, financial literacy, work readiness and job placement, in- and after-school programs, family and marriage counseling, abstinence education etc.
BFL Cultural Center and Museum
5415 Page - North St. Louis, MO
