By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published Nov 15, 2022 at 9:40 PM

A Milwaukee charter high school broke ground Tuesday on a new building on Tuesday.

Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy (HFCA)'s new building at 2212 N. Vel Phillips Ave., announced earlier this year, was designed by Engberg Anderson Architects.

It will be built on a vacant lot across from the former Schuster's/Gimbels building that's being renovated into the Thrive On headquarters, as well as the Griot Apartments in the former Garfield Avenue School and the new America's Black Holocaust Museum.

The school's plan is to renovate its current high school building, 4030 N. 29th St., and convert it into a middle school.

The two projects are expected to cost $25 million, for which $19.5 million has already been raised.

Here are renderings of the new building:

renderingX
renderingX
renderingX
renderingX

 

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.

He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.

With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.

He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.

In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.

He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.