Anonymous Donation to Fund Renovations at Roeper's Birmingham Campus

Nearly half a million dollars.

That's how much one anonymous donor has given to the Birmingham- and Bloomfield-based Roeper School and beginning this summer, this money will fund the renovation of Roeper's Birmingham campus.

"A remarkable act of generosity realizes a transformative future," was how Roeper Head of School David Feldman described the recent donation of $451,000 Thursday. The school learned of the donation, which was attached to the renovation project, in mid-December.

Roeper's Birmingham campus — housed in the former Adams School off Adams Road in the Poppleton Park neighborhood — serves as home to Roeper's middle school and high school-age students.

Roeper will spend the money to completely renovate the interior of the building beginning this June, just in time for the 2013-14 school year.

As part of the renovation, Roeper will upgrade nearly all the lighting and electrical fixtures in the hallways and stairwells, refinish and paint walls and doors, and repair deteriorating wooden door frames.

In addition, the school will construct several locker enclosures, install acoustical ceiling grids, add accent colors to several classroom walls and install new railings and stair surfaces throughout the school.

"(The renovation) will create an architectural canvas that reflects the dynamic energy and creativity of Birmingham community life," said Denita Banks-Sims, development director at Roeper.

"Partnerships of this kind — similar to the construction of The Children's Library at the Bloomfield Hills campus — move the institution forward in very powerful ways and we are all deeply, deeply grateful to the donor responsible for this significant and extraordinary gift," she added.

The interior of the Birmingham school is up for renovation. First constructed in 1921 and then expanded in 1925, the Adams Schools was first used as an elementary school for the Birmingham Public School district.

The building was then abandoned in 1978 and sat empty until Roeper purchased the building in 1980. The first 297 Roeper students walked down its halls in fall 1981.

The building now houses 343 students part in grades 6-12. Last summer, Roeper replaced the roof and re-paved the parking lot at the school. This summer, on top of the interior renovations, the school also plans to replace all the building's windows.

To view more proposed designs for the Roeper beautification project, visit the Roeper website.