PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There’s good news for nature lovers after the Schuykill Center for Environmental Education in Upper Roxborough announced they will not be selling to the highest bidder. This deal ends what was a tense battle to save acres of the wooded area.
The 24-acre parcel of land across from Port Royal Avenue in Upper Roxborough - known as the Boy Scout Tract - is now protected land. The center has announced that it is indefinitely suspending its request for a developer.
Executive Director Mike Weilbacher says they no longer lack financial resources.
“A donor has stepped forward and made a donation with vanguard charitable to allow us to lock this land up in perpetuity,” he said.
The $3 million gift will protect that entire area from being developed. This now adds to what was already the largest preserved private property in the City of Philadelphia.
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Weilbacher says the news comes after neighbors and environmentalists voiced major concern that the center was considering to sell. But despite the conflict, he says in the end, the donation is a win for everyone involved.
“We have a transformative gift,” he said. “That 24-acre parcel will be a Forrest forever. It’s a win for nature and of course a win for the community.”
The donation requires the Schuylkill Center to place a conservation easement on the property. Weilbacher says the process is expected to take six to nine months to complete.
“Our board and staff are going to begin a very long, very thorough, and thoughtful conversation about how we will leverage this gift and invest in our people, our programs, and our property,” he said.
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