DISTRICT PAYS $2.3M FOR FORMER WNPV SITE
Ninth grade center, fields, transportation space are options
The former home of a local media fixture could soon house students, athletes, vehicles, or all of the above for a former neighbor.
The North Penn School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to buy the 13acre property that formerly housed WNPV Radio, a $2.3 million purchase district officials said opens up plenty of new options for the adjacent North Penn High School.
“When an adjoining property does become available for purchase, it is very important to evaluate the opportunity to purchase that property, before it might be sold to another party for another purpose,” said Superintendent Curt Dietrich.
“We did our due diligence to evaluate that property, and what uses it might provide for the North Penn School District,” he said.
The property in question is just over 13 acres located on Snyder Road just north of the high school, and on the property stand five 165-foot-tall radio antennae, one cell tower, and a brick building resembling a house. That brick building was the home of WNPV Radio, a local news station found on the dial at 1440 AM and 98.5 FM from October 1960 until April 30, when the station went off-air for the final time citing the poor economy and reduced support from local businesses.
The agreement of sale included in the board’s meeting materials packet lists a purchase price of $2.3 million, and staff said Friday that would likely come from district capital reserves. The district’s 2020-21 budget passed last month lists capital reserves at $3.03 million as of June 30, and a projected balance of $500,000 as of the same date in 2021. Phil Hunt, WNPV’s general manager, declined to comment on the sale agreement Friday.
Dietrich announced Thursday night that the district began talks with WNPV with several ongoing projects in mind, includ
ing early talks on a possible ninth grade center at the high school, which should shift that grade away from the district’s three middle schools and onto the high school campus.
“That building would create additional impervious surface. We know that the renovation plan for Crawford Stadium did necessitate a variance, that we are already under the necessary open land for stormwater,” Dietrich said.
“So adding construction of the ninth grade center
probably could exceed what is already not enough surface to absorb all of the water, and additional acreage from this property would simplify the plan for rainwater,” he said.
Early indications are that moving ninth grade to the high school campus would bring roughly 1,000 more students and about 130 more employees to the site, which would need more parking.
“We already hear from many that the parking is barely adequate as it is. We know that the North Penn High School campus does struggle to handle the traffic at arrival and dismissal