The Franklin School represents one of the last bastions of 19th century architecture left in downtown Washington, and for three years it has sat empty after the city promised to find a developer for the historic building. But that is nothing new for the building, which operated as a school from 1869 until the 1920s.

Don Hawkins, a longtime resident writing a book on D.C. planning history, went to a rally to save the building in 1971 after the city school system’s administrative headquarters had vacated the place.