West Chester Area School District eyes office building

West Chester Area School District has decided to buy an office building to relocate its day-to-day administrative operations, having concluded it would cost too much to renovate its exiting 92-year-old facility.

In a June 23 letter to the school community, including parents and administrators, James R. Scanlon, superintendent of the school district, laid out the case for buying a building rather than spend money on upgrades and repairs to its Spellman administrative building at 829 Paoli Pike in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The Spellman building is nearly 100 years old.

“There are numerous structural concerns including flooding issues, compliance with federal laws, infrastructure issues and heating and ventilation concerns,” Scanlon wrote.

It would cost an estimated $5.7 million to renovate the existing building compared with buying 782 Springdale Drive in Exton, Pa., for $3.5 million, according to the letter. An evaluation of 10 different buildings ranging between 36,000 square feet and 65,000 square feet and costing between $3.1 million and $9.4 million were evaluated with the Springdale building rising to the top of the list.

Also known as Seven Whiteland Plaza, the Springdale building totals 42,00 square feet.

IFM Efector, which designs and builds sensors used in a range of industries, has housed its headquarters in the structure before relocating last year to a newly constructed building at the Atwater Corporate Center in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

The Spellman building is expected to eventually be put up for sale. It was constructed in 1924 and totals 37,623 square feet. In addition to it being old and in need of extensive renovations, the district outgrew the space. Along with the Spellman building, the district is using six modular classroom buildings to carry out day-to-day functions.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal