The Edgewood House, which sits at the The Shoppes at LaSalle plaza near Chew Ave and Wister St. (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)
La Salle University received a demolition permit from the city on August 8 for the historic Edgewood House building, which formerly operated as part of an orphanage for young Black girls with criminal histories and needed rehabilitation, known as The House of the Good Shepherd Magdalen Home for Colored Girls.
Purchased in 1882 with money donated by St. Katherine Drexel, the House of the Good Shepherd claimed an entire block from Chew Avenue between Church and Wister Streets.
The Good Shepherd sisters would later find other uses for the buildings before selling them in 1980 to La Salle University. Currently, the Edgewood House is the last remaining building of the old orphanage and is known as Good Shepherd Hall, and was operated as La Salle’s public safety headquarters.
The headquarters now sits vacant as the public safety headquarters has relocated to the school’s South Campus, and the land that housed Edgewood is now a shopping plaza, The Shoppes at LaSalle.
In a statement from RePoint Philadelphia, a grassroots organization centered on protecting Philadelphia’s historic resources, activists claim that La Salle has a history of disregarding the historical importance of its buildings.
They also claim that the city’s tax abatement policy encourages demolition over preservation.
The policy allows property owners to receive a reduction on their taxes for “new construction or improvements to deteriorated industrial, commercial, or other business properties.”
“Of course, not every building can be saved exactly as it is. But preservation is not about freezing structures in time. It is about managing change and finding creative, flexible ways to adapt historic places so they continue to serve their communities,” said RePoint representatives in an email to GIH.
Evonne Tisdale, a board member of the East Mt. Airy Neighbors organization and a long-time Germantown resident, doubts the claim that the tax abatement policy is what incentivizes the university to tear down historic buildings.
“I don’t think that policy really applies to Germantown because if that was the case, they could have also torn down Germantown High, but they repurposed it.”
Tisdale remembers being a young girl and asking her mother what the institution was, to which her mother responded, “That’s where the bad girls go.”
Currently, Tisdale is working on writing a letter to the university to halt any demolition activities until they meet with the surrounding community.
La Salle briefly acknowledges the history of the Edgewood House on their website and maintains that there are no concrete plans for the building’s future in a statement from the university’s spokesperson, Brian Kirschner.
“La Salle University values the history and voices of our neighbors and community members. La Salle University has not made a decision regarding the future of Good Shepherd Hall. We look forward to sharing further information, as appropriate, when the future of that building comes into clearer focus,” said Kirscher.
Although the future of the Edgewood House is uncertain, activists argue that different protocols should be established when deciding the future of historical buildings.
Activists propose a demolition review that would give the city’s Historical Commission time to determine the historical importance of a building before demolition.
“Demolition should be the last resort, not the default,” RePoint said.
“Once a building is lost, so is the history, identity, and embodied energy it holds. Philadelphia’s historic fabric is one of its greatest strengths, and preservation ensures that growth and development build on that foundation rather than erase it.”