S.O.S - Save Open Space showdown in Phoenixville on March 28

The Phoenixville Area School District is scheduled on March 28 whether to sell the property to Toll Bros resulting in 80+ new townhouses. The alternatives are stark: Sell to Toll Brothers for $4.6M and get high density development, more traffic, noise and pollution or work with the Borough to sell for $1.8M and get a new 7.4 acre park with an 18,000SF Learning Center. The School District’s positive impact calculations of the sale to Toll Bros has been challenged as short sighted and flawed. Critics ask: Where and when has high density resulted in lower taxes?

Neighbors have pleaded to save the character of their neighborhood. Open space advocates have passionately called for the preservation of the open space, a new community garden and extension of the Phoenixville Greenway trail. Community advocates see many opportunities for the building to be home to (STEAM) Education, Environmental Education, Food Education, Arts Center, Music Studio, Teen Center, Community Art, Regional Sustainability/ Resilience Education, Non-profit / University leased space for Environmental Research to benefit students’ internships.

The Borough and School District have been struggling to collaborate. Advocates are disappointed and puzzled why these 2 bodies, who have the common goal of serving the public's interest, are not able to work together for the common good. The Phoenixville Green Team and Phoenixville Area Transition have conducted a poll that shows wide support for the S.O.S - Save Open Space initiative. A petition is circulating that calls for a new Working Group to be formed to re-frame the conversation to bring in fresh views and partners in determining the Kindergarten's transition to a New Park and redevelopment of the school building. See more at the Phoenixville Green Team webpage