Nether Prov pushes forward with plans to raze Summit School
NETHER PROVIDENCE » Removing asbestos from a former elementary school will cost more than razing it.
Regardless, both activities are now on the way for the former Summit School on Plush Mill Road.
The township Board of Commissioners, at a meeting on Jan. 23, voted unanimously to award contracts that will result in the deteriorating building being removed from the site in coming months and the creation of new green space, at least for now.
Diamond Huntbach Construction of Philadelphia will be paid $188,500 to abate asbestos in the building prior to demolition. Meanwhile, JMC Contractors Inc. of Glen Mills will receive $174,347 to tear down the structure.
Last September, Nether Providence announced that it has been awarded a $500,000 state grant to be used toward the costs of redeveloping the site. The bulk of the grant, which is coming from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP, was intended for demolition but the cost estimates came in lower than expected.
Regarding future plans for the property, Commissioner Matthew Sullivan said then that remained undecided, but “the current focus is on removing the building and doing some site work to improve the park for our residents.”
Assistant Township Manager Dave Grady said last year that the original grant application included building demolition, improvements to the parking lots, a walking trail, a snack bar and a small amphitheater. But he also said there was insufficient funding available at this time for those features.
Until 2018, the facility had been used by a group that called itself the Performing Arts Complex of Delaware County and other community-based organizations, but those groups have vacated the property.
In September of that year the performing arts group posted a note on its website announcing, “It is with deep regret that we announce after eight amazing years, Stage One is closed for good. Fearful of mold issues, Nether Providence Township decided to close the entire building” as of Sept. 21.
The township acquired the property from the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District in 2016 for
$925,000. Financing for the transaction broke down as follows: $600,000 from money left to the township by a couple; $100,000 from a state grant; and the remaining $325,000 from a loan from the township’s sewer fund.
Then in 2018 an 11-member study committee determined the building there was in such poor shape it should be torn down – a conclusion with which the Board of Commissioners agreed.
The study committee also recommended the development of new athletic fields and a playground; the construction of a community center; and possibly a passive park, bird sanctuary and/or walking trail at the site.
Earlier in the commissioners’ Jan. 23 meeting they congratulated Police Chief David Splain on his election as the new president of the Delaware
County Chiefs of Police Association.
Board President Micah Knapp said that “anyone who knows him will realize how lucky we are as a township to have him. He will be great as a leader of chiefs in the county.”
Splain will hold that position for one year. He has also been selected to lead the Southeastern Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association for 2020.