Pinkard and The Action Center Begin Emory School Transformation

A former public school building in Lakewood will soon take on a new mission of community service.

Pinkard Constriction has begun a large renovation converting the onetime home of Jeffco’s Emory Elementary School, which closed its doors in 2022, into a new community campus offering workforce training, community college classes, behavioral health, gymnasium programming and family support services.

The campus is owned and anchored by The Action Center, which has served Jefferson County and Denver Metro Area families in need for more than 50 years with services and resources that include a market filled with groceries, hygiene items and clothing, financial assistance, education opportunities, and connections to other important community resources. In addition to relocating and expanding The Action Center’s complete operations, the campus will also be home to other community-serving partner organizations such as Jefferson County Public Health.

Designed by Davis Partnership Architects, the current renovation footprint covers 82,000 square feet of the 100,000+ SF building. This will expand as additional partners are brought in to occupy the remaining 20,000 SF.

Much of the building will be gutted and reconfigured to fit the various needs of the new tenants, which includes office space, a combined free food and free clothing market, health clinics, a café, and an education center. Scope includes modifications to MEP systems, upgraded access controls, and new skylights, windows, ceiling grids, floors, doors, frames, and hardware. Exterior work includes considerable excavation, stormwater utilities, parking lot upgrades, community garden, and a detention pond.

The project also includes the new construction of a freestanding, 7,000 SF, structural steel building that will function as storage and distribution for The Action Center’s food hub, featuring a loading dock, large refrigeration/freezer space, and pallet-sized racking system.

In addition to the above scope for The Action Center, valuing $13.2 M in construction, Pinkard is conducting $1.9 M in tenant improvements for a health clinic run by Jefferson County Public Health. Construction is currently scheduled to take 12 months, with the possibility of added scope as The Action Center brings in additional campus partners.

The transformation of Emory Elementary is the latest in a long history of collaboration between Pinkard Construction and The Action Center, which have both been proudly based in Lakewood since the 1960s. When The Action Center first purchased their existing headquarters at 8755 W. 14th Avenue in 1991, Pinkard helped make the former post office building habitable, later conducting a comprehensive renovation and addition to the facility in 2001. Then in 2014, as The Action Center’s needs grew, Pinkard helped the non-profit convert and expand the neighboring office building into their new Program Services Building. In the years between, Pinkard has continued supporting The Action Center through various small projects, fundraising, and participation in drives and events.

“Pinkard’s 35-year relationship with The Action Center is one of the proudest and most fulfilling in our company’s history,” says Pinkard President Tony Burke. “While we’d all prefer to live in a world where organizations like The Action Center are not necessary, we are grateful they are in a position to expand and combine their services with other partners to meet the growing needs of our community.”

“We are thrilled to again be partnering with Pinkard Construction on what will be the most ambitious construction project in the Action Center’s history,” says Action Center CEO Pam Brier. “Partnerships and relationships are the themes that have brought us to this junction, and we are so excited to be repurposing what has been a wonderful community asset as a school into an equally wonderful community asset as a center for community wellness – where we hope all will find a place to gather, connect and flourish.”