Politics
Philadelphia Council weighs land protections as Lankenau school closure looms
Two zoning measures proposed by Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. would limit future uses of the Lankenau High School site in Northwest Philadelphia. The proposals add a layer of protection for education and conservation even as the district plans to close the city’s only environmental magnet school.
PHILADELPHIA — City Council is considering two zoning measures that would restrict how the Lankenau High School property in Upper Roxborough could be used, as the school district moves ahead with plans to close the school and merge its programs with Walter B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences.
Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. introduced the proposals covering the 17-acre site at 201 Spring Lane. One bill, introduced in the spring, is scheduled for a second reading at Council on Thursday. It would designate the area for civic, educational and medical uses, barring residential, office, industrial or commercial development unless it receives a zoning variance and approval from local registered community organizations.
A second bill, introduced last week, would extend Philadelphia’s Roxborough environmental overlay to include the Lankenau building. The overlay currently covers parts of the nearby Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education and Fox Chase Farm. Under the proposal, uses at Lankenau would be limited to natural resource preservation, community gardens and educational facilities.
Joshua Cohen, Jones’ chief of staff, said he expects the first measure to receive unanimous support. “We have not given up hope that Lankenau will remain a school,” Cohen said. “We continue that fight every day.”
The zoning proposals do not overturn the school district’s closure plan. In April, the Board of Education approved a 10-year, $3 billion facilities plan that calls for closing 17 schools, including Lankenau, the city’s only environmental magnet school.
The district has said ownership of the property will remain with it and that the site is intended to become an environmental education center serving students across Philadelphia beginning in the 2028-29 school year. District spokesperson Monique Braxton said the 2026-27 school year will be a planning period for implementing the facilities plan and engaging affected school communities.
The Schuylkill Center, which has partnered with Lankenau on educational programs, has challenged the closure plan. The center says it sold the building to the district in 1973 under an agreement requiring educational use and argues that it has the right to buy back the property if that condition is breached. Its executive director has also raised concerns that the district’s planned center could duplicate services already offered by the Schuylkill Center.
The district initially planned to transfer the property to the city for workforce housing before settling on the environmental education center proposal. The proposed zoning restrictions would make a shift to housing or commercial development more difficult, while the wider dispute over the school’s future continues.