In October, we told you about the possibility that the Annunciation BVM School at 12th & Wharton could soon be converted into fifty apartments, with first floor commercial spaces. The school closed its doors at the end of the last school year, along with numerous other Catholic schools in the region, as part of a consolidation process for the Archdiocese. Today, we have some information about another shuttered former Catholic school, the Sacred Heart Parochial School at Moyamensing & Reed, with thanks to Passyunk Post for tipping us off.

The building

As you can see in the photo above, the property is currently listed for sale. Built in 1893 and apparently only used for one purpose during its existence, the school is on the market for $3.5M. Seems a little high to us, especially considering the larger Annunciation School was only listed at $3.1M and had a larger parking lot included with the property. According to the listing, the first through fourth floors of the building each have four 800 sqft rooms, all with very high ceilings covered in tin. The basement also has four ostensibly smaller rooms, along with restrooms, a boiler room, and a full kitchen.

Closer look at the entrance

The natural thought for this property would be to do something like the BVM School and turn the building into rental apartments or condos. Unfortunately, at a $3.5M price, we’re not seeing anyone able to accomplish that task. And with a natural layout that would seem to limit the project to twenty apartments, we’re not even sure that the numbers would work at a much lower price either. Could a Charter School come in here perhaps, as an alternative to a residential conversion, or is the building too small to continue on as a school?

No matter who ultimately purchases the property, we just hope that the gorgeous old building is maintained in its current form. They certainly don’t build them like this anymore, and we simply can’t afford to lose such a classic example of late 19th century school architecture.