Bank's former offices turn into new downtown school.

Families with children moving to downtown Manhattan will now be able to benefit from an important addition to the area's academic establishments--a brand new private institution, Claremont Preparatory School, has moved into the former Bank of America office building at 41 Broad St., becoming the first new school in the area in 50 years.

The school, geared mainly toward area residents and the children of local corporate employees, features an academic program spanning from kindergarten to eighth grade and has taken some pains to provide an exciting environment for its students. In the course of a $40 million renovation, Claremont has completely rehabbed the Bank's former office floors into 50 comfortable classrooms, has used the building's several roof layers to build three separate gym areas and turned the basement and sub-basement floors into a pool room and a cafeteria. In addition, Claremont has renovated the Bank's former hall, creating a school auditorium and private event space.

According to Daniel Koffler, managing director of the downtown auditorium, the building sat vacant for almost 14 years before Claremont took a look at it. Its main appeal was the fact that it was a freestanding structure--41 Broad St. is located in the most tightly controlled area of downtown, just steps away from the New York Stock Exchange, and the school's executives were concerned about dealing with too many security issues if they shared a building with a financial services firm. But they were also impressed that the landlord, Orin Wilf, principal of Garden Commercial Properties, agreed to partially finance the renovation.

Today, the Claremont Preparatory building is almost complete. The school is already in operation, with 55 students, and Koffler expects that it will take little time to fill the remaining 1,145 spots. In the meantime, while the kids are on spring break, Claremont is finishing up a few small details here and there.

When Koffler gives visitors a tour of the school, he first takes them to the new auditorium, a spectacular, cathedral-like space that features Corinthian columns and hand-painted wall murals. In the course of a $2 million restoration, Claremont's construction crew had to install new air-conditioning and lighting systems; eliminate a staircase from the middle of the space that led to a lower floor and remove moisture from the water-logged murals by using hypodermic needles.

The work was almost as intricate one level lower--the crew had to clear out what used to be the mechanical room and create a 25-meter, three-lane swimming pool. The facility is now ready for operation.

The sub-basement floor, used by the Bank as a vault, has been turned into a cafeteria. Here, Claremont preserved some of the original details--including a heavy metal vault door that now leads from the kitchen to the eating space. According to Koffler, some of the old equipment was too heavy to be removed, but that worked out to the school's advantage--the cafeteria space becomes much more interesting when it is paired with elements of a banking facility.

Many of the original details--including oak wall paneling, fireplaces and floor to ceiling windows had also been preserved on the building's second floor, now used for the school's administrative offices and library. The space, evoking a 1930's style executive office decor, even includes a secret escape door in the former CEO room and a Renaissance Revival elevator offering rides between the first and the second floors.

The building's upper levels, however, have all been modernized--Claremont has removed the office cubicles to make space for classrooms, lab rooms and community spaces. In an effort to make socializing easier, the classrooms are laid out in a circle around a central meeting area, where the children will inevitably interact with each other during breaks. Each room is now designed for 20 students, complete with computers and an intercom system for the teacher.

The school's main gym--a 5.000 s/f space with a scoreboard and basketball hoops, has been placed on one of the higher floors. According to Koffler, Claremont's crew used one of the building's roof levels to add 12 feet to the ceiling heights. One level up is a smaller gym area here, once all of the equipment is installed, students will be able to practice ballet, yoga and similar exercise routines. Finally, the building's upper roof level has been covered with green turf and surrounded with metal beams and netting to allow the children to safely play in the fresh air.

All in all, the school's executives believe Claremont will be an overwhelming success. The school's tuition is competitive with similar institutions--$26,500 a year--and with all the residential conversions going on downtown, parents are bound to jump at a chance of a local private school.

Designed by Cross & Cross and completed in 1929, 41 Broad St. contains 100,000 s/f of space. The building was originally created to house Conway Department Store. OCV Architects, in cooperation with Cow Bay Contracting and Walwilhal Associates, are the team in charge of the renovation.