The Lower Merion Board of School Directors voted unanimously to authorize the sale of the former Oakwell estate to nonprofit conservation organization Natural Lands. The school district invoked eminent domain on the Oakwell estate and a second adjoining property in 2018, planning to use them as playing fields for its new Black Rock Middle School. In total, the district spent about $12.9 million for 10 acres of Oakwell off County Line Road and the adjoining three-acre Acorn Cottage property. The district planned to clear-cut hundreds of trees on the properties to use the land as athletic fields. The district reconsidered the plan after receiving pushback from the community and even from students. Last year, the school district reached an agreement with Lower Merion and Haverford townships to use the nearby Bryn Mawr Polo Field for baseball and softball. Under the deal, the 10 acres of Oakwell off County Line Road will be sold for $9.9 million and split between Natural Lands and an additional nonprofit not yet named. The Acorn Cottage property off Montgomery Avenue will be sold to Natural Lands for $2.9 million. The total sale will amount to about $12.9 million — meaning the school district will basically break even. Natural Lands plans to use part of the property in connection with its neighboring Stoneleigh property, a public garden.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 8/19/2024