Schoolhouse Ownership

As many of you know, five years ago Solebury Township Historical Society leased from the New Hope Solebury School District the original seat of public school education in Solebury, our historic one-room schoolhouse. It was in a sadly neglected state and required over $50,000 to make the interior “livable” again, an undertaking to which many of you contributed. If you have been in the schoolhouse recently, you know how much we cherish this icon of our local history.  

We now are delighted to be facing the possibility of having the schoolhouse deeded to the Society by the School District. There are benefits to STHS having ownership of the schoolhouse, as well as advantages for the School District and to New Hope and Solebury residents.

Owning the schoolhouse will enable the Society to apply for grants that cover capital improvements, preservation, programs and education. Most grants are dependent upon the applicant having ownership of the facility (denotes stability of the organization.) Ownership also provides us with a sense of security for the Society and for our enormous collection of archival materials.

The benefits to the School District include reduced maintenance expenses, both long and short term, reduced insurance costs and reduced staff workload and expense. Estimates for necessary repairs total nearly $50,000 and include restoring windows/frames, rotting soffits and eaves, repainting, and roof replacement.
The benefits to our residents include using grant funds, donations and our own funds to make necessary improvements/repairs to the schoolhouse rather than tax dollars that could better serve the many student programs.

We expect that our proposed acquisition of the schoolhouse will be on the agenda of the next School Board meeting.  As part of the due diligence required, the School Board has asked for public opinion regarding the NH/S School District deeding full ownership to the Solebury Township Historical Society.

Our plea to you, our loyal membership, along with all of the residents of Solebury Township and New Hope Borough, is to help us show the school board that our community is strongly supportive of the Solebury Township Historical Society having deeded title to the one-room schoolhouse. Please take a few minutes of your time and let us have your physical support.

Help us keep the schoolhouse and our history intact:

• Send us a letter: STHS, Drawer 525, Solebury, PA 18963.
  
• Drop us an email: soleburyhistory@verizon.net.
  
• “Like” us on Facebook.

Please share this with friends, family, co-workers...everyone who lives in New Hope and Solebury. We are hoping to have stacks of support to show the School Board.