In 2012, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia made the tough and contentious decision to close Saint Bridget Elementary School at 3640 Stanton St. in East Falls. This was upsetting to many neighbors since the school had been a fixture in the community since the 1880s, when the original building was built. At the time of its closing, the Archdiocese marketed the former school extensively to other educational institutions in an attempt to keep the building in a similar use. They weren't successful, ultimately selling the property to developer HOW Properties for $1.2M, which allowed the parish to pay off their debt to the Archdiocese. At the invitation of the developer, we were allowed to take a look inside this old beauty of a building and check out the residential conversion which they mostly completed this past year.
Walking into the renovated building, it becomes immediately obvious that the developers did little to the structure itself. Most of its apartments are simply the old classrooms of the school with a few extra walls and furnishings. The hallways of the building, especially in the section built in 1949, appear to be in much the same condition as they were when students walked the halls. The walls, flooring, and railings all seem to be original. This fact makes walking through the building both beautifully familiar and kind of eerie at the same time.
The approximately 32,000 square foot building is split into regular apartments in the old classrooms, and lofts in the old gymnasium section for a total of 32 units. There will also be parking available for 30 cars. The prices range from around $1,200 for a 1 bedroom to $1,900 for a 3 bed, 3 bathroom unit. A pretty cool feature, some of the lofts on the bottom floor of the building contain the original hardwood floor of the gymnasium. Here's some staged photos from one of the regular apartments:
The building is pretty much across the street from the East Falls Regional Rail Station and you can see the station from some of the units.
Eerie hallways aside, this project is a great addition to the neighborhood. It's always hard when a school closes, and it would have been worse to see the building disappear too. Another positive, St. Bridget's Church, the architectural marvel of East Falls, is in good health and will continue to set the skyline of East Falls.
