When Norwin School District decided to close Sixth Street School in the late 1980's, Irwin lost a longtime neighborhood school and gained an eyesore that has festered for a decade.
Irwin Council President Danyce Neal doesn't want to see that happen again when the district closes the Pennsylvania Avenue School.
"What's going to happen with the building⢠When they closed Sixth Street School 13 to14 years ago, it sat empty and was boarded up. The kids wrote graffiti all over it. It became a safety issue," she said Tuesday.
Eventually, the school district sold the property to the borough for $1, Neal said, but by then the building was in complete disarray. The lack of heat had caused the floors to buckle and allowed other structural damage. Six empty lots are all that remain of the former school.
Pennsylvania Avenue, built in 1956, and also Hartford Heights Elementary, located on Ardara Road in North Huntingdon Township and built in 1960, are slated for closure after the school year ends June 7.
At a public hearing conducted by Norwin School Board Monday, just two residents spoke against the closures. One was Neal. The lack of speakers simply meant residents realize the closures are inevitable, she said.
"I was sort of surprised more people weren't there (at the public hearing), but I think everybody's knows it's a done deal," Neal said. "My own daughter went to the school 20 years ago. Many people bought homes in the area because of the neighborhood school. Walking to school is becoming a thing of the past," she said.
What concerns Neal now is how the closed building may blight a nice neighborhood.
Students from Pennsylvania Avenue may attend Scull Elementary located just down the road or the new Sheridan Terrace Elementary in North Irwin, which will open this fall. Hartford Heights students will choose between attending the new Sheridan Terrace or Stewartsville Elementary in North Huntingdon, depending on where they live, according to Dr. Richard Watson, Norwin's superintendent.
Hartford Heights has a student enrollment of 280, while Pennsylvania Avenue has 341 students. Pennsylvania Avenue's student population increased this year when children from the former Shaw School were relocated there, Watson said. Shaw was demolished and is being replaced by the larger Sheridan Terrace.
There are no definitive plans for either building, but some options will be considered, Watson said.
"There are no immediate plans. We've had some inquiries about the availability of the buildings. We may use them in the district, because we have needs as well," the superintendent said.
Watson could not comment about the plight of the former Sixth Street School because he was not superintendent at that time. He said one of the inquiries for the Pennsylvania Avenue building came from a Meals on Wheels agency.
The final vote on closing the two elementary school is scheduled for May, Watson said.
