Two former Haverford School District elementary schools built shortly after World War I are meeting two separate fates, writes Paul Jablow for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The old Llanerch School, built in 1912 at Darby and Llandillo roads, exists today as an innovate apartment development.

Brookline School, less than a mile away at Earlington and Kenmore roads, is slated to be torn down in a matter of weeks.

Developer Jeff Steigerwalt, who played stickball and street hockey in the Llanerch School parking lot as a kid, bought the building in 2017. He turned it into a 13-apartment development.

He kept the school’s original transoms and exit signs and each unit has a blackboard.

“It was a great opportunity to give the community something it wanted,” Steigerwalt says.

Brookline was empty longer than Llanerch, last used as a school in 1985. It’s been home to a senior center and a kindergarten program.  The school district turned the building over to the township on the condition that it have a public use.

No financially viable public use could be found. Preservationists feel the township didn’t pursue enough creative options for the building.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about the fate of two former elementary schools in Haverford