Frankford High students to come back in 2025 after a $20 million refresh
Gutting or knocking down and building anew were rejected as "prohibitively expensive" options at $160 million and $300 million, respectively.
The district will spend $20 million to reopen Frankford High, rejecting prior plans to either gut the majestic structure on Oxford Avenue or knock it down completely and rebuild. Those options would have cost $160 and $300 million, respectively, sums deemed “prohibitively expensive” by leaders.
Extensive asbestos damage closed the 110-year-old, four-story building in April 2023. Most Frankford students were forced to learn virtually for the last three months of the 2022-23 school year; then this year they squeezed into the Frankford High annex, and the school’s ninth graders moved to a satellite location at Roberto Clemente Middle School on Erie Avenue, a campus shared by two other schools.
The $20 million project will address — not remove — all asbestos, and include improvements and a “refresh” of the main building, from the ground to the fourth floor.
“Frankford has been an important and historic center for learning for more than a century in Philadelphia, and we are confident this investment will enable us to safely reopen the building to students and staff,” Chief Operating Officer Oz Hill said in a statement. “We are grateful for the patience and cooperation of the Frankford community and are working cooperatively with school leadership and meeting every quarter to provide updates on our progress.”
After the school year concludes on Friday, some of the asbestos in the building will be repaired, some will be removed, and some will be enclosed. The project includes removal of plaster ceilings and vinyl asbestos tile and installation of new ceilings, tile, and light fixtures, as well as painting and refinishing floors.
Undisturbed asbestos poses no threat, but once asbestos becomes damaged, it is dangerous to human health. District officials said in some cases, they would install laminate panels over asbestos-containing plaster walls.
Federal requirements specify that all asbestos-containing materials must be checked twice a year.
The Frankford project budget does not cover a new heating and cooling system at Frankford, though; officials said more improvements will be made in the future.
Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said in a statement that in making a call on how to tackle the Frankford project, the district weighed “the extent of work necessary to be able to reopen and maintain a healthy learning environment, the storied history of the facility, and the budget constraints and balancing needs of the district as a whole.”
The plan frustrated some Frankford staff, who last year aired safety concerns and staged a protest outside the building over what they said was a lack of answers.
“It feels like they’re doing the minimal amount to get us back in there safely,” said David Gavigan, a Frankford English teacher. “We still feel overlooked. It’s hard for me to feel confident in the district’s plans and executions just when there’s been this lack of transparency.”
The average district building is more than 70 years old, and it’s estimated that there are $7 billion in facilities needs.
“The sentiment is one of frustration,” said Gavigan.
While it will be nice to get back into the building after being sandwiched into the school’s annex, Mary Beth Reinhold, another English teacher, still worries. For as long as she’s taught at Frankford — 18 years — the fourth floor was sealed off because of asbestos, she said.
“It was so bad that they closed it all off, and nobody could go in there, and all of a sudden it’s going to be OK?” Reinhold said. “There is concern from those of us who have been in the building for a long time.”
Juan Namnun, a longtime Frankford teacher and coach, has sued the district over asbestos exposure, which he said caused his breast cancer.
Namnun, who is still undergoing treatment for his cancer, said his heart sank when he got the news of the coming renovation.
“I had instant nerves, instant worry,” said Namnun. “It was not what I was hoping. I love Frankford High School — I’ve been there 30 years, and it is a home to me, but I don’t know if I’m ready to go back in there and trust everything.”