Doctors Putting $2.5 Million into Shuttered School in Old Town

Two Lansing area doctors are turning the long-shuttered Cedar Street School into a fitness and rehabilitation center.

Carla Guggenheim, an internist and doctor of osteopathic medicine, and Gail Shafer-Crane, an occupational therapist, are putting $2.5million into the three-story, 20,700 square foot building.

The building has been unoccupied since the late 1980s, has no heating or air-conditioning, and minimal electrical work.

“Everything is outdated and needs complete replacement,” Shafer-Crane says. “It’s basically a shell.”

The two doctors will move their practices into the building and add a community fitness center to the Old Town building. An East Lansing-based yarn company, Thread Bare, will also move into the refurbished school.

“The Cedar Street School is located in Old Town and we really wanted to settle our practices in Old Town,” Shafer-Crane says. “We find that the philosophy and vibrancy of Old Town is certainly a positive energy for a new development.”

After funding for the building is secure, the redevelopment of the school should take nine months, Shafer-Crane says. Shafer-Crane and Guggenheim plan on creating a building that is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified.

Source: Brian Anderson, Lansing Economic Development Corporation

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie