Thomas A. Edison School
formerly known as The George Gray School | September 25, 2001The Thomas A. Edison School opened in September, 2000. It is located in the old George Gray School in northeast Wilmington in a neighborhood known as "Prices Run". Today, the neighborhood is a mix of neatly tended row houses and vacant, boarded up public housing. The residents are largely African-Americans with low incomes.
The original portion of the school was built in 1924. It sits on 3.8 acres situated between two public parks. A 1953 addition provided kindergarten classrooms, a gymnasium, and a new entrance & administration area. Totaling 82,000 square feet, the building varies in height from one to three stories.
The school district abandoned the building in 1981. For several years afterwards, various community organizations leased portions of the first floor. Eventually, the building was left vacant, became a target for vandals and continued to decline. Copper flashings and downspouts were stolen, coping stones were pushed off roofs, windows were broken and graffiti covered the walls. Window wells filled up with crack vials. needles and refuse. Homeless people took up residency. By 1998, the neighbors were fed up with the situation, and demanded that the city take action
The City of Wilmington sold the building to Phase V of Delaware, Inc., a community development corporation, for one dollar. Meanwhile, Edison Schools, Inc., the country`s leading private manager of public schools, was looking for a site in Wilmington. This group partnered with a group of local citizens concerned about the high failure rate of inner city black children in Wilmington`s public schools. In 1999, Phase V agreed to lease the building to the newly formed non-profit organization, The Thomas A. Edison Charter School.
Both the building and site were contaminated with asbestos, petroleum products, lead, and arsenic. Leaking roofs damaged plaster walls and ceilings and buckled wood floors. The basement and pipe tunnels were full of mud and oil. Mold and fire had blackened and damaged portions of the school. Windows were broken and boarded up. Making a realistic appraisal of work to be done was an arduous task, performed in dark, dank, stinky conditions.
While environmental remediation of the site proceeded, the architectural team familiarized themselves with the school`s programmatic needs and developed schematic plans. Once the design was approved, construction documentation and demolition began.
As soon as the debris had been cleared away, construction could begin. Exterior walls were repaired and strengthened. The seventy-five year old, double hung, seven-foot high windows were replaced. The interior layout was preserved as much as possible, and retrofitted to meet current codes and building technologies. Ninety-eight percent of the mechanical and electrical systems were removed and replaced. Air conditioning was added to accommodate year-round use of the building. Sprinklers, smoke and fire detection, alarm and emergency apparatus were woven into the building`s fabric. Computer lines connected every room. Ramps, lifts and elevators were inserted unobtrusively for handicapped accessibility.
All of this was accomplished as economically as possible with final construction costs totaling $7.2 million dollars. A new school could have been built for the same amount of money and with less aggravation, but the loss to the community would have been enormous.
For over seventy-five years, the old George Gray School has been the community`s focus, for better and for worse. As the school declined, so did the neighborhood. As education and civic pride gave way to drugs and desperation, both the community and the school suffered.
Now, after less than a year of occupation, a new spirit has infused both the building and the neighborhood. Eight hundred eager students lend a new vitality to the district. Step-drill teams and choral groups share the stage with academic achievement and good citizenship. Long time residents that once attended George Gray point with pride to their alma mater. An old story and a bright dream, an embattled community and a visionary school, have all found a safe haven in a building.
As in all good stories, this building speaks of hardships overcome and dreams realized. It represents the revitalization and rebirth of an entire neighborhood. May it live happily ever after.
