Contract: U.D. schools, Clifton Heights agreed to public school use of land
CLIFTON HEIGHTS >> The Upper Darby School District may terminate the revolving lease agreement with Clifton Heights to allow the borough to use a tract of district land if the school board determines it necessary for public school use.
This clause was included in the lease stipulating the district’s right to end the agreement to allow Clifton Heights to use the 13-acre property on North Springfield Road for community use. The agreement was one part to keep the borough inclusive with the district after its schools merged with Upper Darby in the 1970’s.
“Lessor (Upper Darby School District) shall have the right to terminate this lease (Clifton Heights) at any time if the board of school directors of lessor determines in its sole discretion that the demised premises or any portion thereof is deemed as necessary or appropriate for public school use,” reads a portion of page two of the five-page lease signed by both governing bodies on April 15, 1992. “In such event, lessor shall give lessee written notice of its intentions at least ninety days prior to the commencement of construction by certified mail, return receipt requested, to lessee at the address listed above.”
The lease further states that the agreement will automatically renew for additional three-year periods, “unless terminated by either lessor or lessee by 90 days prior written notice.”
There are no plans in the works on the district’s behalf to cancel the lease agreement in order to build a school on the property. Currently, the school board and administrators have only initiated the bidding process for an architect to cost out where a new school should be built. The Clifton Heights land and a 69th Street park have been opined to build a new middle school to handle growing enrollment and structural deficiencies at Beverly Hills and Drexel Hill middle schools.
Renewed interest in the district’s ownership of the property came about in the past couple of weeks when rumors circulated that the district was going to build a new school on the property. Borough residents expressed concern to their elected officials about what sounded like a done deal to build.
The site is a focal point of the community that is used for a myriad of events like hosting carnivals and 4th of July festivities.
The land used to be the site of the former Clifton Heights Junior High School until the school board voted to close it down in December 1976, according to board minutes retrieved through a Right to Know request with the district. At that meeting the board approved 8-0 a resolution transferring 6.5 acres of undeveloped portion of that property then owned by the borough, and in exchange the borough was given the first opportunity for use of the vacated property for a term five years at the cost of $1 a year.
After this initial agreement, another was signed on April 17, 1989 for a three-year term at $1 a year. That agreement, too, stated that the school board may terminate the lease if portions of the property may be for public school use.
The least from 1992 is the last one that has been signed by the district and the borough due to its automatic renewal every three years.
Despite the right to terminate the agreement, Clifton Heights Mayor Joe Lombardo stated in a press release that the borough will do what it has to, “to stop any Upper Darby School Board plan to take away the Clifton athletic fields from Clifton Heights.”