PHILADELPHIA – The community around the former Ada Lewis Middle School is voicing frustration over a long-standing eyesore that has finally gained attention due to Kada Scott’s tragic case.
The Mt. Airy community also voiced their safety concerns in the area to city leaders.
Community frustration over vacant school
What we know:
Gerald Caldwell, a longtime resident, has been vocal about the neglected state of the vacant Ada Lewis Middle School since 2008.
The school sits next to Awbury Recreation Center and Park, where Caldwell has coached baseball for 25 years.
“You look back there you can’t look because it’s full of weeds, it’s unbelievable, sorry it had to take this for it to grab attention in this way,” said Caldwell.
On Monday, landscape crews from the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the School District of Philadelphia began a cleanup operation around the school. This followed the discovery of 23-year-old Kada Scott’s body behind the school Saturday morning, two weeks after she was reported missing. The community has since held a vigil and balloon release on the school property in her honor.
In a letter sent Friday, Councilmember Cindy Bass urged the school district to demolish the building and secure the site. The district claims the property is regularly inspected and was last checked on Oct. 14 with no signs of unauthorized activity.
Development proposal never moved forward
Ken Weinstein, president of Philly Office Retail, shared that more than five years ago, neighbors requested a development proposal for the site. Weinstein envisioned 76 affordable twin homes, and areas to park. Despite a letter of intent with the district and dozens of letters of support ahead of a May 2021 school board meeting,
Weinstein says their proposal never made it onto the meeting agenda.
“I’ve seen the blight and I’ve seen the overgrowth and I appreciate that the city and the school district woke up to take care of the site but it’s too little too late,” said Weinstein.
Weinstein expressed sadness over the lack of action and hopes for positive outcomes from the current attention. “When you oppose responsible development there’s consequences and I think we’re now seeing that,” he said.
Community Safety Townhall meeting in Mount Airy
“I loved my friend dearly,” said a young lady who says she was friends with Kada Scott after they met in college.
“She could do anything she put her mind to. Kada knew exactly who she was, and nobody could tell her otherwise,” she cried.
She spoke during the community meeting and advocated help in schools for young people processing what happened.
“About violent offences, about harassment, about stalking and how things progress,” she said.
City leaders organized the community safety town hall held at True Light Fellowship Church in Mount Airy Wednesday to allow residents to talk about quality-of-life issues. But what happened to 23-year-old Kada was top of mind for most.
City leaders react
“We want to make sure that at this moment we lift up the family of Kada Scott,” said Mayor Cherelle Parker.
“I understand why we’re here. For a lot of us it is about the tragedy that just happened and the trauma that we all felt,” said Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel spoke passionately about his officers, the homicide unit and other manpower called in for the investigation, which included the FBI, New Jersey State Police with k9 and k9 from Montgomery County.
“Unfortunately, our pinpoint took us a way from where we needed to be but we took almost 400 men and women out of the academy and said let’s find Kada,” he said as the crowd applauded.
“Recovering Kada’s body was not the outcome we’d hoped for but we are grateful that we are able to bring her home,” said Commissioner Bethel.
Tensions were high on the issue of vacant school buildings around the city. Especially the former Ada Lewis Middle School property where Kada’s body was found buried behind.
“We’ve directed our team to check every one of our vacant properties within five to 7 business days. We’ll have every one of them reviewed and appropriately manicured,” said School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington.
Residents react
“We have Amber Alert but we are looking to have a Black Alert because it would be different,” said one woman about missing black girls.
“People are in pain and it’s ok to be in pain. But I gotta say this, when we start having programs that I believe needs to be classes of domestic violence and intimate partner violence,” a man said about programs to make young people aware of dangerous situations.
What we don’t know:
It remains unclear why the school board did not include the development proposal on their agenda and what future actions will be taken regarding the site.
The Source: The information in this story is from the Philadelphia Police Department, School District of Philadelphia, and community interviews.
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