Abigail Vare School | |
 Abigail Vare School, May 2010 | |
    | |
| Location | 1619 E. Moyamensing Ave.,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°58′22″N75°09′03″W / 39.9728°N 75.1507°W /39.9728; -75.1507 |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1903–1904 |
| Built by | Samuel Garley, Jr. |
| Architect | James Gaw |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| MPS | Philadelphia Public Schools TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 86003339[1] |
| Added to NRHP | December 4, 1986 |
Abigail Vare School is a former school building located in thePennsport neighborhood ofPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. It is located across from Dickinson Square Park.[2]
It was built in 1903–1904, and is a three-story, square stone building in theClassical Revival-style. It features a central projecting pediment withIonic order columns and decorativePalladian window, an oversized molded cornice, and a hipped and gable roof with decorative brackets.[3] The school was named after Abigail Vare, the mother of the three Vare Brothers (includingWilliam Scott Vare), who became politicians and contractors.[4]
The building was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1986.[1]
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.[5] In March 2013, the school district voted to close Washington.[6] Abigail Vare School moved from its previous building to the former Washington building,[7] and it is now known asVare-Washington School.
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 inBethesda, Maryland, acquired the Vare building, along withGermantown High School and three other schools, for $6.8 million.[2] The SRC voted on this sale in September 2014.[8]
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.[2] 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.[9]
