School could house new senior class

After the boys move out of St. John Neumann High School, seniors might be moving in.

Officials from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia confirmed they are considering using the Neumann property, 26th and Moore streets, for "the development of supportive housing for the elderly" once the school merges with St. Maria Goretti High School at the end of this school year.

The decision is the result of meetings of the Cluster 23 Implementation Team, consisting of laypersons and clergy from the five parishes surrounding Neumann. They began discussing the future of the property in April.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua finalized the merger of Neumann and Goretti in September in one of his last official acts as leader of the archdiocese.

The new school will open in September and will be called Ss. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School. It will be located at 10th and Moore streets, in the building currently used by Goretti.

In October, the Cluster 23 group drafted a letter to then-Archbishop Justin Rigali requesting that he consider maintaining a "Catholic presence" in the community by having the archdiocese use the site for another purpose.

Rigali’s response led to a meeting last month between the cluster implementation team, members of the community, the secretary for Catholic Human Services, the vicar for Philadelphia-South and John Wagner, director of the Archdiocesan Office for Community Development.

At this meeting, church officials listened to residents’ concerns about the future use of the Neumann site.

According to a statement from the archdiocese, "These officials assured those in attendance that, at this time, the Archdiocese is not considering any other use of the present St. John Neumann High School site other than the development of supportive housing for the elderly, and that no other reuse of this site is under consideration while this possibility is explored."

Residents also were told it could take as long as a year and a half to determine the feasibility of such a project. During that time, the Office for Catholic Education will be responsible for maintaining the building and grounds and providing security.

Wagner said since it is still very early in the planning stages, the archdiocese has not determined what changes would be necessary to adapt the space for seniors.

"We are going to go through a process where we will evaluate if we can use part of the building, all of the building or none of the building."

As a result of decisions at the recent synod, the archdiocese is looking for existing church properties that can be "an adaptable reuse for the elderly," Wagner added.

"Because the Neumann site is now available, we need to look at that," he said.

The plan is not a replacement for a failed proposal to build a 120-unit assisted-living facility on part of the property belonging to Stella Maris at Ninth and Bigler streets, said Wagner.

Last February, feasibility studies determined the senior development would not work at Stella Maris and the project was canceled.