The old West Philadelphia High School, only blocks away from Penn’s campus at 48th and Walnut streets, is about to find new life as a luxury apartment complex.

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Alumni feel sentimental about the historic structure, which was built over a century ago, and at first, the news of its closing was not necessarily welcomed.

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Jashley Bido | Contributing Photographer

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“Initially, back in 2005 when we found out that they were going to close the old West Philadelphia High School, we were concerned that they were taking away a school for the community,” Alumni Association President Michael Brown said. “We didn’t want to lose the identity of the old school.”

“Initially, back in 2005 when we found out that they were going to close the old West Philadelphia High School, we were concerned that they were taking away a school for the community,”

The school’s legendary four-story Gothic building occupied a full city block between Walnut and Locust streets , bounded by 47th and 48th streets. When the old building closed in 2011, students relocated to a new building at 49th and Chestnut streets.

West Philadelphia High School had opened in 1912 with an excess of 5,000 students. This current academic year, the School District of Philadelphia enrollment records lists only 538 total students.

Brown has no hard feelings about the high school being developed into apartments.

“We don’t feel bad about it, because we have the new school,” he said. “Our legacy of West Philadelphia High School continues.”

Cindy Chen | Contributing Photographer

Heights Advisors, the Brooklyn-based company that is converting the school into 268 apartment units, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The company plans to begin the project in 2017.

With its long history of over 100 years, West Philadelphia High School has a legacy that the Alumni Association wants to maintain, even after moving into a new structure.

“It’s just a new face,” Brown said. “We did not want to lose the image of the old West Philadelphia High School.”

In an effort to keep that legacy alive, the Alumni Association works diligently to maintain contact with current students and to make sure that they are informed of their school’s rich history.

“We meet with all the incoming students each September, to identify ourselves so they know who we are, and so they are aware that this school has a history dating back to 1915,” Brown said. “Our feelings, initially, were that we were losing something in the community that we were all attached to, but the transition from the old school to the new school has been a relatively smooth one.”

Brown realized that although he had a sentimental attachment to the building that he graduated from in 1969, the most important part of maintaining his alma mater’s legacy was keeping its reputation alive.

“What the Alumni Association does here is stay in contact — network with the staff and the students — to keep reminding the students that the legacy of this school will live as long as this building stands,” he added.

The Alumni Association does still recognize the original structure’s historical significance, however.

“It’s not only important to West Philadelphia, but it’s important to Philadelphia — you know, why this structure was put there in the first place,” Alumni Association Vice President Johnny Williams said. “The legacy is significant.”

Another way the Alumni Association worked to protect that legacy was by bringing memorabilia, including basketball championship banners, sports trophies and old yearbooks, from the old West Philadelphia High School to the new building.

“West Philadelphia High School is known for its domination of sports,” Brown said.

Julio Sosa | News Photo Editor

Brown and Williams believe the Alumni Association’s greatest responsibility is to maintain a link between the current West Philadelphia High School and its former iteration. They pointed out that the architect of the new building is Emanuel Kelly, who graduated from the old location and based some aspects of the new high school on parts of the old building. Along with this physical connection, the Alumni Association works hard to maintain an emotional link to the school’s history within the student body.

“We work diligently with students to maintain that image — the aura, the mystique — of West Philadelphia High School,” Brown said.