Historic School in Chester County May be Demolished

Preservationists appear to be on the losing end of the debate in Phoenixville, Chester County about saving an old stone school building. Township supervisors made an exception to their procedures, and granted a demolition permit, to avoid costly, drawn-out litigation.

KYW's Steve Tawa reports the chairwoman of the Schuylkill Township board of supervisors, Barbara Cohen, says demolishing the building on Whitehorse and Pothouse Roads is 'cauterizing a wound that had been bleeding for years':

"I feel it is an unfortunate tragedy."

While the building, owned by the Phoenixville area school district, was eligible for historical preservation status, school officials have maintained that they had no use for the deteriorating building. A replacement Schuylkill elementary school, built in 2006, sits on the same hill.

Cohen says it is an 'important piece of the past,' unlike the more vertical, masonry buildings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries:

"What Frank Foster did with the Schuylkill school is have it relate to the outdoors in a more horizontal, or ranch style, so the children could relate to the outdoors."

Foster made his fortunate in congoleum flooring.