PHILADELPHIA-Mayor Michael Nutter and School Superintendent Dr. William R. Hite announced a plan on Wednesday that calls for the sale or adaptive reuse of 31 closed school buildings.
“My administration is committed to supporting the school district and our communities throughout this process,” stated Mayor Michael A. Nutter in a press release. “We share the goal of implementing a fair, efficient and transparent method to find a new, productive use for each of these facilities as quickly as possible.”
The mayor's announcement says the new process will allow for early community input and stakeholder analysis. In addition, the mayor states that the new process allows for the selection of “highly marketable properties to be identified for expedited sale in order to generate much-needed funds for the School District.”
The School District will work with the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger, the Mayor's Office of Education, and other related agencies including the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, to create a flexible, multidisciplinary approach to repurposing the properties to viable uses.
The Nutter administration and City Council are in conflict over what to do with the shuttered schools, according to The Inquirer. City Council President Darrell L. Clarke wants the city to pay $50 million for the district's empty buildings, then turn them over to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development to sell. The district needs revenue in the coming months to bridge a $304-million budget shortfall. See story in The Inquirer.
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