Reuse plans being developed for Butler Middle School
The nonprofit organization that owns the former Butler Middle School is in discussions with Butler Health System and a special education provider about leasing space in the building and hopes to have its first tenant move in next year.
Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, which acquired the building from the Butler Area School District for $1 last year, is talking to BHS about housing its family medicine residency program for family medicine and Food Institute, and the Watson Institute about having a special education program in the building.
“We have had encouraging discussions with both Butler Heath Systems (including the Food Institute) and the Watson Institute but, at this time, plans have not been finalized,” said Donald Evans, president and CEO of Pittsburgh Gateways, in an email. “In both instances, we are pleased with the possibility of adaptively reusing the Butler Middle School as a community resource and to support these partners as they address critical medical and educational needs.”
Last week, county commissioners voted to give Pittsburgh Gateways a $200,000 grant from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act grant funds. County officials said the organization will use the money for architectural and engineering work to reuse the old school. The BHS residency program will require laboratory space, examination rooms and administrative offices, officials said.
BHS created the residency program to address an anticipated shortage of doctors over the next 10 years and could have its first group of residents in July. The program would be located on the third floor, county officials said.
Evans said the county grant will be used to complete a feasibility study, including the planning and architectural work.
Pittsburgh Gateways, a nonprofit real estate developer and manager, plans to work with prospective tenants to raise the required capital for renovations that tenants would need, Evans said.
Tenants will pay fair market rent, and the revenue will go toward sustaining the building and the programs it supports, he said.
“As you can imagine, converting a historic school without air conditioning into a hospital training clinic and special education facility will require significant renovations,” Evans said.
He said nonprofit and for-profit entities would be welcomed tenants. Pittsburgh Gateways’ goal is to convert the building into an economic driver for the community, he said.
The first tenant or tenants hopefully will move into the building sometime next year, he added.
The BHS Food Institute is designed to teach people living with food insecurity issues how to prepare meals and gives them enough ingredients to prepare 10 healthy meals per month at their homes.
The Watson Institute provides special education programs to the Butler Area School District and other districts at five schools it operates in Allegheny County.
District Superintendent Brian White said having the Watson Institute open a facility in Butler would benefit students and the district, but any agreement probably would take a few years to come to fruition because space in the old school would have to be reconfigured to meet the needs of the students.
Currently the district uses three vehicles to send students on an hour-long trip every day to a Watson Institute school in Sewickley. In addition to the driver, a monitor and nurse ride in each vehicle, White said.
Having a Watson Institute school in Butler would reduce travel time for students and reduce transportation costs for the district, he said.
“It would be a great benefit to us and other schools,” White said. “That’s a long ride for any child.”
Watson Institute CEO Barry Bohn said discussions with Pittsburgh Gateways are preliminary, but having a program in Butler would benefit students and families in the county and other areas north of Pittsburgh because it would reduce travel time.
He said the institute would need 30 students to start a program.
The institute employs special education teachers, social workers, classroom assistants and speech, occupational and physical therapists, and uses a ratio of having three of those staff members for every seven or eight students.
“It would certainly help the district with transportation costs and help the families and their kids,” Bohn said. “We provide good special education service to families and children, and make a difference for them.”
In addition, Evans said a new name for the building hasn’t been selected.
