Demolition is off the table as Montgomery County seeks new uses for a historic prison in Norristown

Montgomery County has abandoned a controversial proposal to demolish the former prison it owns in Norristown and will instead seek redevelopment proposals for the long-vacant landmark and the 2.5 acres surrounding it.

The official pivot from razing to saving the Airy Street facility — since 1851 an imposing Gothic presence on one of the county seat’s major streets — follows a grassroots preservation campaign.

The county had budgeted nearly $1 million to tear down the prison and applied to the Borough of Norristown for a demolition permit, but announced on the eve of the Nov. 7 election last year that it was asking the borough council to delay action. The campaign further gained momentum after postelection leadership and membership changes on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

“We are submitting a formal letter to Norristown withdrawing our request for the demolition permit … [and] expect to deliver that sometime next week,” county spokesperson Megan Alt said Friday.

County Commission Chairperson Jamila H. Winder, who last year spoke against preservation and in favor of demolition, said in a statement Thursday that she has “an open mind” about the process.

“Ideally, we want to preserve the historic nature of the Airy Street facade while using the rest of the site to create vibrancy and value in that section of downtown Norristown,” she said. “I am as eager as anyone to see what [the site] ultimately looks like.”

Winder’s predecessor as chairperson, Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., was against preserving the prison and characterized the site as a “monument to injustice” in an Inquirer op-ed on Sept. 3. His commission term expired at the end of 2023, and in February, he was appointed chairperson of the SEPTA board.

A vendor hired by the Planning Commission will assess the condition of the structure and then a Request for Information will be issued to attract interest from potential developers, Scott France, executive director of the county’s Planning Commission, said Friday.

Redevelopment would likely focus on preserving the original facade as well as the front and central sections, but could include demolition of the deteriorating, early-20th-century addition at the rear of the property. Suggestions for reuse have included county offices, a museum, and a music venue.

In a statement, Commissioner Neil Makhija said: “The former prison … presents a critical opportunity in our county seat …[and] we’re actively inviting opinions and contributions from community members, historic preservationists, and site developers — people with the expertise who’ve done this before and can do it well.”

The Request for Information “is a very important first step,” said Hanna Stark, director of policy and communications at the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, which also advocated to preserve the prison.

“Its reuse would contribute to a much more vibrant Norristown,” she said. “The importance of preserving it as an avenue to revitalization cannot be overstated.”

“I’m glad the community stepped up, and I think withdrawing the application for the demolition permit shows good faith on the part of the county,” said architect Douglas Seiler, a leader of efforts to repurpose the prison for more than a decade.

“After the vote to withdraw the demolition permit, some of us gave each other cautious high fives,” he said, adding “what we really are fighting for now is for the site to become a destination to attract people and be a magnet for downtown businesses.”

Said community activist and longtime Norristown resident Olivia Brady: “I am really happy that the county came to understand that this building should be saved. To just tear it down would have been unconscionable to my mind, and I was afraid the county would flip the switch and bring the bulldozers in.”

The prison was designed by Napoleon LeBrun, the architect of Philadelphia treasures such as the Academy of Music, and the Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. LeBrun also designed the original Montgomery County Courthouse, which is nearby.

The Historical Architectural Review Board of Norristown, an advisory board, opposed the prison’s demolition.

Chairperson Bill Ward said LeBrun’s design was meant to “intimidate” potential criminals, at a time when Irish and German Catholic immigrants were settling in the Philadelphia region in large numbers — and being incarcerated in large numbers as well.

“I hope it will be put to some sort of cultural use,” he said.

A 90-page research paper on the history of the prison by Celeste Morello, a historian who grew up in Norristown, is referenced in the county planning commission’s presentation about the site’s redevelopment potential.

“I did a very comprehensive history of how the ‘castle-ated’ design of the prison fits with Pennsylvania’s practice at the time,” she said. “The prisons were full of Irish men, who’d been picked up on [spurious] charges — like not having a job.”

Thomas Lepera, president of Norristown’s borough council, supported the proposed demolition. He also agreed with Lawrence’s contention that the prison is a reminder of the history of overincarceration and unequal justice.

“I believe the people who want to preserve it have good intentions,” he said. “But as far as redevelopment goes it’s been sitting there since 1987 and in my memory, not one developer has looked at it seriously.

“The building is full of asbestos and lead paint,” said Lepera. “And to my mind the county has been demolishing it by neglect for years.”