Loft Apartments Planned For Shuttered West Philly High School Might Include Small School
Photo via Google Street View
The former West Philadelphia High School will, if the purchase goes on without a hitch, live its second life as a mixed-use loft apartments building, a plan developer Strong Place Partners has had in the works for a few years now. Tomorrow, however, the School District will hear a proposal to include a charter school in a designated section of the building.
West Philly Local‘s Mike Lyons reports that Strong Place has agreed to lease “as much as 90,000 square feet” to the Philadelphia Music and Dance Charter School if the District approves the school’s application and if the community supports it.
Some locals had previously expressed their dislike for the planned lofts, which they believed would not address community needs and potentially spark up gentrification issues, according to NewsWorks.
Lyons writes that if the school’s petition is denied by the District, they still have three other locations in mind: “23 S. 52nd St., 4021 Market St. and a “loft like space” at 851 N. Preston Street.” Below some background on the proposed school for the WPHS building:
The proposed school’s founding board includes Andrew Porter, the dean of the Graduate School of Education at Penn and Erica Atwood from Mayor Michael Nutter’s administration.
In its application, school officials argue that, “Having families in this blighted part of western University City will greatly support the resurgence of the community.”
A Virginia-based company, Pansophic Learning, will run the educational operations for the school, which will also partner with U.S. Performing Arts, according to the application.
• Philadelphia Music and Dance Charter School proposed for old West Philly High building [West Philly Local]
