The Drexel Hill property that includes the former Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School building fetched $3 million in a sale to the Delaware County Community College (DCCC) by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. College President Dr. L. Joy Gates Black disclosed the price of the sale during a press conference Tuesday morning at the Marple campus following a Friday announcement that the college and archdiocese had signed an agreement of sale for the 8.5-acre property, which includes the 100-year-old Prendie building.
The college plans to turn the property into a full-service campus at a total estimated cost of $55 million. DCCC will demolish a number of smaller buildings on the property to accommodate parking and build a new academic wing on the 180,000-square-foot former Prendie school building. Thirty classrooms for general academics, science labs, and early childhood and career technical education will be part of the new campus. Black said the campus will include science programs for health professions, health studies (pre-nursing), early childhood education, culinary arts, electro-mechanical technologies, nurse aides, “and other degrees and certificates that lead directly into the workforce.” The college expects a partnership with the YMCA of Eastern Delaware County to create an Early Childhood Education Learning Center. The campus will include a “community empowerment center” to connect people with county resources and community education and programs. The historic, iconic front façade of the school that looks out over Garrett Road will not change.
Source: Daily Local; 9/18/2019
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