Abigail Vare School is a former school building located in the

Pennsport Pennsport is a neighborhood in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Pennsport is home to a large working-class Irish American population, many of them descendants of immigrants from the mid to late 19th c ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is located across from Dickinson Square Park.Jennings, James.
Mt. Sinai Developer Plans Apartments, Townhomes at Shuttered Pennsport School
" ''

''. June 10, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.

History

It was built in 1903–1904, and is a three-story, square stone building in the

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

-style. It features a central projecting pediment with

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

columns and decorative

Palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

, an oversized molded cornice, and a hipped and gable roof with decorative brackets. ''Note:'' This includes The school was named after Abigail Vare, the mother of the three Vare Brothers (including

William Scott Vare William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867August 7, 1934) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressiona ...

), who became politicians and contractors. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1986. In December 2012 Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. presented a proposal that would close the George Washington School and move Abigail Vare School into Washington's building. At the time Washington's building was in a better condition compared to Vare's, while the Vare school had an academic performance superior to that of Washington's. In March 2013, the school district voted to close Washington.Medina, Regina.
Philly union challenges teacher-dump decision
" ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. May 24, 2013. Retrieved on November 30, 2015. Abigail Vare School moved from its previous building to the former Washington building, and it is now known as

Vare-Washington School Vare-Washington School, is a K-8 school in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. It occupies the former George Washington School building in the Dickinson Narrows neighborhood, in proximity to Sout ...

. After Washington-Vare moved to the former Washington school, the former Vare school remained vacant. The school district and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation listed the Vare building for $2.5 million. Concordia Group, a company headquartered in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, acquired the Vare building, along with Germantown High School and three other schools, for $6.8 million. The SRC voted on this sale in September 2014. In 2015 Concordia Group announced that it wished to construct six townhouses next to the former Vare building and also convert Vare itself into 45 apartment units. The developer engaged in a community meeting with area residents, and it reduced the number of units to 41, in addition to reducing the amount of parking.Brey, Jared.
Maryland developers see opportunity in Philly's institutional shells
" '' PlanPhilly'' at ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Tuesday, July 21, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.

References

External links

Former Abigail Vare attendance boundaryArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vare, Abigail, School School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia South Philadelphia Neoclassical architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1904 Defunct schools in Pennsylvania 1904 establishments in Pennsylvania