Is Fels pool
project drained?

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

The project manager for the new Samuel Fels High School is insisting that a pool has been removed from the project, but the School District of Philadelphia maintains that nothing official has been done and there is no official work stoppage.
Former school district CEO Paul Vallas promised community members at a November 2004 meeting that they would have access to the pool as one of the perks that came along with the new school.
Other promises, including a community-demanded access road to route car, bus and student traffic alongside the school, have long ago disappeared from the plans.
Ernest Bock and Sons Construction is one of the contractors working on what was proposed to be a 250,000 square-foot building at the old John F. Kennedy Hospital site, at 5500 Langdon St.
Budgeted at $68 million, the school will accommodate 1,200 students and replace the cramped and outdated Fels building at Algon and Devereaux avenues.
Rick Cosgrove, project manager for Bock, said his firm received a stop-work order on the pool. Subsequent meetings confirmed that it was "definitely out of the construction project."
"It’s not a rumor. It’s fact right now. They’re coming up with a new design to close off that end of the building, with the pool being removed from the project," Cosgrove said.
According to school district spokeswoman Felicia Ward, the district would need to have public input before any change would be made, and it would have to go before the School Reform Commission for approval.
At the moment, however, there is nothing scheduled to be brought before the SRC.
"We can only comment on what has been officially passed. We can’t do anything in the dark," Ward said.
Oxford Circle Civic Association president Nancy Hampson is not happy about the secrecy involved with the project.
"This is a matter of public knowledge. We do not like being shut out of the process," Hampson said. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com