Phoenixville moves forward on elementary school project

SCHUYLKILL TWP. A judge is still weighing whether the Phoenixville Area School District can seize a golf course by eminent domain, but that has not stopped the district from moving ahead with plans to build an elementary school there. Last week, the school board bought a house at an intersection that will need to be upgraded if the school is built, drawing criticism from the club's owners.

"It's putting the cart before the horse," said Bruce Campbell, whose family owns the Meadow Brook Golf Club on State Road in Schuylkill Township. "I don't know what's going to happen. Nobody does."

The school board voted to seize the 50-acre property by eminent domain in November 2013 without telling the owners, which drew criticism but is legal. The owners have since filed an objection in Chester County Court, claiming the school district could have chosen a more suitable property. Stan Johnson, the district's executive director of operations, said the court would not rule on that objection until March at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Johnson said, the school board decided to buy the property at Hallowell Lane and Pothouse Road when it was recently put on the market because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has said improvements will be needed at the intersection if the school is built. Johnson said that if the Meadow Brook owners' objection is successful, the district will sell the property.

"We don't know exactly what the result is going to be," he said. "But if there is no value to the district to hold that property, we'll just sell it again."