With the recent tragedy of Kada Scott’s body being found behind the abandoned Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School in Germantown, residents’ long-held concerns over vacant city-owned properties have risen to the surface. 

In February, after speaking with neighbors near the middle school, the Local reached out to the school district and asked what it planned to do with the vacant property. Neighbors had expressed concerns over crime and vandalism at the site.

In response, a spokesperson for the school district told the Local in February, “The district’s main priority for instructional facilities is to support students and school communities. The ongoing facility planning process will provide guidance and inform future decisions about the management and/or disposition of district properties, including surplus and vacant buildings.”

After police identified Scott’s remains, City Councilmember Cindy Bass wrote a letter to the school district and to Superintendent Tony Watlington, calling for the building to be demolished. 

“This revelation is both heartbreaking and alarming, and it confirms long-standing community concerns about dangers posed by this vacant structure,” she said in the letter. 

Residents say they’ve expressed concerns over crime and vandalism on the property for years. These concerns cover multiple properties, including the Germantown YWCA, with Bass saying her office and the developer “hope to have an announcement by the end of 2025.”

Denise Straiges and her husband are the nearest neighbors to the Ada Lewis Middle School building, and say they have dealt with consistent issues since moving there in 2018. 

“We’ve been reaching out constantly. I mean, it’s awful,” Straiges told the Local. “We actually started looking to move over the summer, and I want to preface this by saying we love it here. … But it’s just been getting consistently worse and worse and worse the longer we’ve been here. And the last year has been almost untenable, between the gunshots coming from the parking lot of the rec center and at Ada Lewis, the garbage people just dump everywhere.”

In the past, Straiges and her neighbors have reached out to Bass and the school board regarding their concerns, Straiges said. Herb Powers, of the Awbury Arboretum Neighbors group, echoed Straiges, saying that the neighbors group particularly had concerns over the amount of trash being dumped on the property.

“I share the concerns of the community and have been advocating for years, which is why I sent the letter to the School District of Philadelphia,” said Bass in an email to the Local.

In response, Patrick Jones, the 59th Democratic Ward leader representing Germantown, told the Local, “The record shows that Bass has raised concerns about safety and recently asked the district to demolish the building, but there is no evidence that she has taken proactive steps to support redevelopment or a community-led plan.” 

Development thwarted

In 2021, Ken Weinstein’s Philly Office Retail submitted a proposal to purchase the middle school property, which has been vacant since 2008, and develop it into a neighborhood of 76 new twin homes. 

The redevelopment plan received support letters from two local Registered Community Organizations and 45 near neighbors. The houses would’ve been priced around $415,000. 

Straiges attended several meetings for the proposal, holding one at her house as the nearest neighbor. 

“Loved it. It’s great because it’s low-density. He had a really great idea for the traffic pattern, for parking on Ardleigh Street, for lights. It really felt like a great proposal,” Straiges said. “It’s not overpriced. I mean, the prices in some of the new construction is crazy to me. [Weinstein’s proposal] seems fair.”

When the project was set to be considered by the school board, it was suddenly tabled from its May 27, 2021, meeting agenda. 

“The morning of the vote,” Weinstein told the Local, “I received a phone call from school district staff that our negotiated proposal was no longer being considered despite a strong staff recommendation to sell the school for affordable housing redevelopment purposes.” 

Weinstein says that Bass lobbied school board members to drop the project, a claim Bass denies. 

“The School District of Philadelphia makes all policy decisions regarding their real estate,” she said. 

The Local asked Bass if she or any member of her staff expressed disapproval of the project to school board members, prior to them considering the project, to which Bass replied, “never.” 

Weinstein said a letter of intent had already been signed by the school district ahead of the board’s vote. 

“Mr. Weinstein never discussed the project with me or members of my staff,” Bass said.

Her office then added: “Bass’ position was never based on a personal or private exchange with Mr. Weinstein, as no substantive discussion ever occurred between him and the Councilwoman directly. While members of her staff may have attended community meetings open to the public, which is standard practice to listen to residents’ input, that does not constitute an official discussion or negotiation regarding the project.” 

Bass’ office did not comment on whether the project is affordable. 

In response, Weinstein said, “On Jan. 12, 2021, I sent a letter to Cindy Bass with details of our plans to build affordable housing on the Ada Lewis School site.  I included a website with a site plan and described the strong support that we had already received from the community. Bass never responded.” 

Weinstein added that he’s ready to reopen the project at any time, if the school board supports it. 

When asked if her office would support a planned development there, Bass said, “I believe that location has an incredible amount of potential, but I await for the School District of Philadelphia, per Dr. Watlington, to unveil their plans for the property” this winter.

The Awbury Neighbors considered more than just Weinstein’s proposal for the site, including one from developer UriGroup, LLC. 

Growing concern

After the news of Scott’s death, the 59th Democratic Ward sent a letter to Cindy Bass demanding action on several properties, including the Germantown YWCA and Ada Lewis Middle School. 

In April, Bass confirmed that KBK Enterprises was still her top choice to redevelop the YWCA. Just before that, KBK’s commitment letter from the Redevelopment Authority expired after the developer failed to meet funding deadlines. 

KBK was originally awarded the project in 2016.

At the time, Bass said KBK would have a community update by the summer. In August, the Local followed up, with Bass saying that an update was coming soon, potentially by the end of the month. Now, she hopes to have an announcement by the end of 2025. 

Jones, the ward leader, said, “Councilmember Bass has shown a consistent pattern of distancing herself from major redevelopment challenges in Germantown. … Bass has repeatedly positioned herself as a bystander rather than an advocate, attributing delays to ownership or bureaucracy while long-promised projects continue to deteriorate.”

He added, “Germantown deserves leadership that drives progress, not leadership that waits for someone else to take initiative. Residents have the talent and vision to reimagine these properties. What they need is a representative willing to champion their efforts, not one who explains why it can’t be done.”

Said Weinstein: “Many deadlines, set by Bass, have come and gone.” 

The school district did not respond to the Local’s list of questions for this story. 

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@chestnuthilllocal.com.