The reuse proposals included in this report model the process that the Task Force would undertake in envisioning redevelopment at schools. Sites were categorized by market strengths to identify those which would likely need public incentives in order to become appealing for mainstream redevelopment. Once categorized, detailed demographic and market analysis identified neighborhood trends to guide reuse options. Community-based research, conducted by talking to residents and community groups, further identified community needs which could be met by redeveloping closed schools. And finally, a detailed and practical program approach was designed that connected proposed building uses with possible
Looking from Drew Elementary School’s blacktop toward Center City, Philadelphia.
financing, strategic partnerships to facilitate the process, and demonstrated community need. The repurposing proposals in the report offer four different alternative futures envisioned for schools in Philadelphia. These ideas, while site specific, offer replicable uses, financing strategies, and long term goals which could be applied to other closed schools in Philadelphia. The sites chosen for study are emblematic of the larger challenges facing all school reuse in the city, and the country as a whole; large sites and older buildings in traditionally distressed neighborhoods face challenges attracting conventional funding, developers, and political support. These challenges should not, however, prevent innovative and creative uses from becoming part of the long-term on which Philadelphia can draw in order to become a leader in school reuse. Embracing alternative development plans will allow the city to support local development, encourage economic revitalization, and ensure that closed schools can once again become community serving assets.
The School District of Philadelphia’s headquarters on Broad Street.
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adopt a policy which will identify public and private incentives so that these sites are appealing to developers, so that schools can return to their neighborhoods and residents as community assets. In the difficult situations where a school building can no longer be repurposed, due to prohibitive costs for renovation, the SDP must make a decision to quickly deconstruct the building and invest in the site. It would be helpful to have an entity such as the Task Force to quickly identify schools which must be demolished, and to quickly remove the buildings so that they do not sit vacant for years, and become a safety hazard for the community, or a blighting force in the neighborhood.