William Penn
The Harrisburg School District is employing the help of the community to come up with a plan for its historic William Penn School building.
At a school board meeting on Tuesday, Receiver Dr. Lori Suski appointed a task force of residents and city and county officials to discuss what to do with the long-vacant and blighted school building at risk of demolition.
In June, Suski approved the demolition of William Penn, citing the financial burden it has become. However, in late August, Suski announced that she would halt demo plans, give the community another chance to share input on the future of the building and consider alternative proposals.
“We clearly heard that there is a sentiment out there that before we move to demolish a building, that we look at other options. This is our due diligence, good-faith effort,” she said on Tuesday.
The newly appointed task force includes two paid facilitators, Sheila Dow Ford, executive director of nonprofit Impact Harrisburg, and Elan Drennon, an attorney based near Philadelphia, Suski explained.
There will be 27 members of the task force including Danielle Bowers, City Council president, Gloria Merrick, director of Harrisburg’s Latino Hispanic American Community Center (LHACC), David Morrison, director of the Historic Harrisburg Association and Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries, among many other officials and residents. Two Harrisburg High School students, one from the John Harris campus and one from the SciTech campus, will be included, as well as two school board members.
Additionally, five district officials, including Suski, will serve as ex officio members.
According to Suski, the group will discuss various options for the future of William Penn. At a previous press conference, she said that plans could possibly include only preserving the façade of the building, keeping the building and eventually using it for a vo-tech school or job training facility or proceeding with a full demo, among other options.
The task force will meet on Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m., twice in October, November and December. Dates have yet to be announced. Meetings will be open to the public, but will not include a public comment period.
Suski expects that the task force will have a final recommendation to present to the district at their first board meeting in January.
For more information, visit the Harrisburg School District’s website.
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