Former Catholic high school building sold to Pennsylvania community college

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has sold the former Archbishop Prendergast High School building in Drexel Hill, Pa., to Delaware County Community College.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the building will be used as a future campus for the community college. The facility occupies part of the 30-acre site that now is home to the Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School. The purchase price was not disclosed.

In 2012, the archdiocese merged the all-female Prendergast and the all-male Bonner schools and moved them into a newer building. Since then the Prendergast building has been underused, said John E. Cooke, the schools’ president.

The archdiocese bought the historic building from the Drexel family in 1917. It originally was constructed as an orphanage that opened in 1920, the archdiocese says. It became a high school in 1953.

Delaware County Community College hopes to use the building as an opportunity to further collaborate with the high school.

The two institutions already work together by offering a dual enrollment program for high school students.

The community college has seven locations in Delaware and Chester counties.