It’s a little outside of our usual geographic reach, but this one is so important that we felt we had to share. The old Roberto Clemente Middle School, located at 3921 N 5th St., has gotten approval for a complete overhaul.

First, some history:

According to Hidden City, the building was originally built as the Apex Hosiery Factory, but became a school in 1967. As the decades passed, the school fell into deplorable condition and finally closed in 1994 after a new Clemente School was constructed at 2nd & Erie. From there, the building was used as the Greater Philadelphia Book Bank, a resource that allowed teachers to pick up used school books for free. That was closed down by the School District in 2007, and the building has sat vacant since.

Looking up 5th Street

Looking up

Actually, to say the building has sat empty isn’t really an accurate statement. Philadelphia Weekly describes in detail the way that scrappers have gutted the building’s interior in recent years. Drug use, prostitution, and other crime have apparently been huge problems at the property. Oh, and it’s loaded with asbestos, some of which could theoretically be blowing out of any of the perpetually open windows. This building has clearly been a problem for many years, and hope finally arrived about a year ago when the School District agreed to sell the property to Nueva Esperanza, a non-profit and charter school operator. The price for the property? One American Dollar.

Over the past year, the new owners have worked with PZS Architects to find a way to appropriately reuse the building for affordable housing. And recently, they received approval from the ZBA for just that. The project will involve the demolition of the 4th through 6th floors along 5th Street, to bring the building more in line with the rest of the block. In all, thirty-eight apartments will be carved out, including 28 two-bedrooms and 10 three-bedrooms. On the first floor will be over 5,000 sqft of retail space along with a community room.

Elevations drawing of the 5th Street side

Some folks who live near this building have been waiting for this project all their lives. The elimination of a troubled, blighted building and its replacement with an attractive and active use will have a dramatic positive effect on this stretch of Hunting Park. Though it’s a bit of a hike for us, we’ll definitely be checking in on this project as it comes together. Can’t wait to see it move forward in earnest.