A mental health residential treatment facility will not be going into a former Don Guanella School building at Delco Woods in Marple, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

It would cost too much to renovate the school buildingsfor the new use, according to a Delaware County statement.

The possibility of a mental health facility on land set aside for the county’s largest park drew public criticism lobbed at Delaware County Council.

The facility would have been located on a 3-acre site off Sproul Road, part of a 213-acre parcel.  

“The County continues to look at other locations in Delaware County to treat community members and address the mental health crisis in our community,” officials said in the statement

Ken Hemphill, co-founder of Save Marple Greenspace, was happy for the turnaround.

“It’s hard for people to back down when they’re faced with such nasty opposition and I think it takes real courage — what they did — deciding to move on and take the mental health facility off the table,” Hemphill said.

The Delco Woods property was owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and a developer.

Delaware County used eminent domain in 2021 to acquire the heavily-forested property for use as a park.

Read more about the ongoing situation at Delco Woods at WHYY.