WASHINGTON PARK — The team behind the transformation of a closed Bronzeville elementary school celebrated a major milestone with the grand opening of its outdoor public plaza on Monday.

The Creative Grounds team—an offshoot of Borderless Studios, a South Side design firm—has spent the past eight years diligently transforming Anthony Overton Center for Excellence4927 S. Indiana Ave., to a place where neighbors can gather.

Work to transform the shuttered school into a community hub is still ongoing, but the project is coming into sharper focus with the unveiling and opening of its public spaces.

The collective marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and remarks from Borderless Studios director Paola Aquirre, Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright and Ghian Foreman, a partner with the Washington Park Development Group, which is leading the redevelopment effort.

Monday’s ceremony marked significant progress as the transformative project moves forward, those involved said.

“To me, this is another step. This is not all happening at once. It’s one step at a time. It’s been tough,” Foreman told Block Club. “The funding environment is tough. One of the challenges that we’ve had is to (the outdoor site) has been so active that people thought everything was open. It’s been a slow process trying to coordinate federal, state, local funding, philanthropic funding and we haven’t closed the gap all the way yet, but we will continue to it in steps.”

Overton was one of 50 schools closed in 2013 by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel due to low enrollment. In 2015, the school’s campus was sold to the Washington Park Development Group.

The developer originally planned to turn the campus into an apartment complex when he bought it over a decade ago, and Aquirre joined the collective sometime after. Instead, plans were changed to make it a community hub with space for entrepreneurs and nonprofits as well as event spaces and the public square.

While Foreman admitted the original plan would have been more profitable, seeing the long-neglected campus become a bustling hub has been worth the arduous journey.

If all goes according to plan, community events celebrating the opening of the site’s gym and kitchen will eventually follow, Foreman said.

Despite pandemics and financial challenges, plans are still underway to finish work on other parts of the campus, including the conversion of Overton’s old Child-Parent Center into an audio/visual studio where local creators can make music, movies or podcasts, Foreman said.

“You planted something to see it grow. Now you see some green, and later you will see a flower, but that flower will turn into a tomato. Kind of seeing that process is no different than seeing the process of this empty building comes alive, or seeing a vacant lot, become a building and become active again, says Foreman.

While work on the campus is ongoing, putting programs in place to keep neighbors engaged has been key to the project’s success, Aquirre said. “Community Day” event letting neighbors see the center’s progress and the Overton Exchange – an outdoor market where visitors can patronize local vendors – gives local businesses an opportunity to meet customers on site.

Art has also been instrumental in bringing people together. An installation from MacArthur Fellow and Bronzeville native Amanda Williams currently adorns the wall of the main building, along with maps of the city (sketched by Aquirre and painted by neighbors) on the square’s asphalt. Murals by Rahmaan Statik adorn the walls of the gymnasium.

Aquirre agrees with Foreman that it’s been a tough road, especially with the team having to learn the ins and outs of city and state funding on the fly. But seeing the outpouring of love and support from the neighborhood has been rewarding, she said.

The renovation of the main building and annex will cost $17 million. BOWA, a black-owned construction company, is responsible for the expansion. It is unclear when the project may be completed.

“We didn’t know how to do it, but we just went through. ‘There’s money here.’ OK, how do we get access to that money and how do we build something with public resources? It’s been quite a learning curve, and I is grateful to everyone who has been around and told us not to stop because it’s really hard, says Aquirre.

The center will host three more community days in August, September and October before the season ends.

Overton’s outdoor plaza is the 10th public space recently created in collaboration with the city’s Department of Planning and Development, with the Overton team receiving a $600,000 grant from the city agency. The former elementary school is one of several outdoor communities around the city created in collaboration with local organizations working to revitalize neglected areas.

Another plaza will open at the Southside Sanctuary in Bronzeville next week, according to planning and development spokesman Peter Strazzabosco.

Monday’s event left an impression on first-time vendor JoVonna Jackson, an artist with the Englewood Arts Collective, who told the Block Club she’ll be back.

“I’m excited to be a part of the ribbon cutting,” Jackson said. “This is unbelievable. When I saw that this was one of the schools that had been closed, I was very disappointed, because the space could be used for our community to get the youth off the streets and keep our seniors safe. Now look at us. It’s beautiful, showing entrepreneurship and art and culture and living off the land.”

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