(photo by Lee Bey)

Gary Comer College Prep was dedicated earlier this month on the South Side’s Greater Grand Crossing community.

The two-story 42,000 sq ft school cuts a fine figure near 72nd and South Chicago Avenue, joining its neighbor to the south—the four-year-old Gary Comer Youth Center—to form a dazzling corridor of eye-catching, contemporary and unconventional architecture where it is most needed: a hardscrabble neighborhood where jobs, resources and opportunities are often few.‚  The school and the youth center were both built in honor of Lands End founder Gary Comer who grew up in the area and was its benefactor until his death in 2006.

Chicago architect John Ronan designed both buildings. We looked at the pair of structures seven months ago when the school was still under construction.

(photo by Lee Bey)

(photo by Lee Bey)

(photo by Lee Bey)

Check out this site to see more about the new school and what’s inside.