Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
District selling office building
Administration moving from Spellman building to Exton site
The wrecking ball might soon demolish an existing structure on one of the last big chunks of real estate within walking distance of West Chester Borough.
Realty firm Swope Lees Commercial Real Estate recently listed for sale the West Chester Area School District’s Elwood M. Spellman Administration Building, at 829 Paoli Pike.
The school district plans on an early-summer move to 782 Springdale Drive, Exton.
The 40,000-square-foot Spellman Building property sits on a 16.8-acre site and has been owned by the district for 93 years. The selling price is $4.5 million.
WCASD Superintendent Dr. James Scanlon said last year that the school district headquarters had flooding issues, compliance issues with federal laws, infrastructure problems and heating and ventilation concerns.
“The Spellman building has served
the district for more than 90 years and for the last 34 years has been the home to the district office,” Scanlon said. “The renovations necessary to give it another 30 years of life are cost prohibitive and the new location is a less expensive option for an Education Center.”
Kevin Campbell, WCASD director of facilities and operations, said the building was built in 1924.
“It has had permanent
additions in 1952 and 1957 which are the current business office and the administration wing that includes the superintendent’s office and that floor above it,” Campbell said. “Modular construction (portable trailer units) occurred in 1977 and 1999 (which house personnel and technology.)”
Chuck Swope, listing agent, along with co-workers Nicole Lyddane and Jim Lees, at Swope Lees, talked about the West Goshen property’s coveted location near a major highway artery in Route 202 and its close proximity to
the borough.
Swope and Lyddane said the structure would likely be razed to make way for new construction.
“I think it represents a significant development opportunity,” Swope said. “This is one of the gateways into West Chester. Replacing that building should enhance the West Chester area.”
Lyddane suggested what a developer might say: “What can I do here that would let me get the best possible return on my investment?”
Scanlon said last year that there would be no impact
on taxpayers for the move since funding had been set aside in a capital savings fund.
The new Exton administration building will also be named after Spellman. His daughter and current school board member, Susan Spellman Tiernan, said Thursday that her father was a dentist with a practice on West Miner Street in West Chester.
From 1951-69 he was a member of the West Chester Joint High School Board and was the first president of the West Chester Area School District from 1958-68.
She said that her father lived by a philosophy that the district now makes happen.
“No matter how you started off in life every kid should have a chance for a good education and to be the best you can be,” she attributed to her father.
The property is partially wooded and part of a C-2 Zoning District. The acreage backs up on an I-3 Zoning District.
Swope said that while the realtor has not actively yet advertised the property, several potential national and local developers have expressed an interest.