The Neshaminy School Board has set the wheels in motion toward new ownership and a new use for the closed Oliver Heckman Elementary School.
By an 8-0 vote at Tuesday night's meeting, the board authorized district officials to proceed with the necessary steps to finalize the proposed sale of the 8.2-acre property at 201 Cherry St. in Langhorne to Erin Development Co. for $3.2 million. Those steps include entering into an agreement of sale and, eventually going to settlement on the deal.
Per the applicable Pennsylvania law, the sale would have to be approved by Bucks County Court. The final agreement of sale and purchase will be subject to review and approval by the school district solicitor.
Tuesday night's vote came with no comment from board members or anyone in the audience at the sparsely attended meeting. The Heckman property is located mostly in Middletown, with a small part in Langhorne Borough, and includes the school building constructed in 1966, a parking lot and some athletic fields. The school closed in June of 2016 at the end of the 2015-16 school year.
Representatives from Erin Development Co. did not attend the meeting, and it's not clear at this point what will happen to the property. Some possibilities listed in a request for expressions of interest by purchasers/developers put out by Neshaminy in January are child day care center, adult/disability day care center, professional office, community center, public park, public recreation facility, nursing home, age-qualified residential community, single-family homes, carriage houses and trade or commercial school.
"It is the preferred objective of the school district that the overall development of this site takes into consideration the existing open space, recreation areas and adjacent properties," the document stated.
It went on to say that some of the other preferred objectives of the school district are that the property be sold "for the highest and best use of the property with the consideration for the residents of the area in which the property is located."
Any sale has the goal "to repurpose the property in order to enhance the community and neighborhood in which it is located," it added.
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