Allentown School District’s $1.6M expansion plan faces opposition in Midway Manor | Allentown Area

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – People in Allentown’s Midway Manor neighborhood are meeting Monday night to discuss a major project proposed by the School District.

ASD wants to expand the Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy, and control who uses the park the school district owns right next door. For decades, the pride of Allentown’s Midway Manor neighborhood has been the park located right in the middle, and the neighborhood association has done a lot to improve it.

“All the soccer equipment that you see on the field belongs to the Association. We paid for all of that,” said former neighborhood association President Richard Wilburn. “The playground equipment that you see there, our group did fundraising and paid for all of that.”

Wilburn said it’s even a selling point for homebuyers.

“One of the things that they use to, when they’re trying to sell a property in this area, is the park is right here,” said Wilburn.

But the land belongs to the Allentown School District, and it’s got big plans to invest $1.6 million in a modular building with 10 new classrooms to expand the Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Academy. As for the park, ASD said from now on neighbors can only use the playground outside school hours, and they need a permit to hold events or sports games there.

“As a school district, we would not want to be liable, as they would not want to be liable,” said School Board President Andrene Brown-Nowell in a meeting last week.

But Wilburn said that’s not how things were done in the past.

“We have never been asked for a permit, we’ve never been asked to pay anything for the use of the property,” said Wilburn.

The School District argued it’s only asking for fair payment.

“We’re not looking to make a profit, we’re just looking to cover our cost,” said an administration staff member at the meeting.

But School Board Director Evette D’Amore voted against the school expansion at the meeting on Thursday after hearing concerns from neighbors.

“I’m voting no, not because I don’t want an expansion of the school, but I want this to be done in a way that respects the community that is there. That’s been there,” said D’Amore.

Wilburn said he doesn’t want this to turn into a fight.

“I’m just hoping that we can find a way that we can work together,” said Wilburn.

The Allentown Planning Commission will be hearing a proposal for the school expansion at its meeting on March 10th.