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Monday September 3, 2001
Bucks County Courier Times
NORTHAMPTON
A Tale of Two Buildings
The future of the Spread
Eagle Inn appears to be assured, while that of the old Richboro Elementary
School remains uncertain.
By James
E. Stanton
COURIER TIMES
jstanton@calkinsnewspapers.com
John
Long attend the old Richboro Elementary School in the 1960s.
Thirty-five years later, he is one of
the five Northampton supervisors fighting to preserve the boarded-up
school, which dates to 1913.
"Even if I hadn't gone there, I would
still feel the same," Long said last week.
Commerce Bank officials, who once proposed
preserving the school by moving it to the rear of the plot they want
to develop, last month went to court to force the township to allow
them to demolish the building.
In the suit in Bucks Country court, they
contend that the township is unlawfully blocking Commerce Bank from
moving forward with construction by refusing to grant a demolition permit.
The court had not scheduled a hearing.
According to the development plan, the
bank and a Burger King would take up the school site fronting Second
Street Pike, while the school would be moved to the rear of the plot
and incorporated into a day-care center.
The supervisors argue that the school
should stay where it is - within sight of the highway - and be incorporated
into the bank building.
Down Second Street Pike, at the town's
main crossroads, sits the Spread Eagle Inn. Like the school, it has
been boarded up for a number of years.
The
inn was in danger of being torn down by the township, which owns it.
But it has been spared thanks to donations totaling $425,000 from two
developers and a campaign to preserve it by an avid group of supporters.
The two-centuries-old inn is to be moved
back from the town's main crossroads to allow highway widening to relieve
the traffic bottleneck.
Long said he has "fond memories"
of the old school that the township is working to place on the state
Register of Historic Places.
"It is an example of the way schools
were built in the early century," he said. "The structure
still has a 14-foot-high ceiling and a unique feature where each corner
mirrors the other."
The building with its picturesque stone
face, sits alone on the tract. Last month, the township allowed Commerce
to tear down the newer portion of the school that was added in 1928.
The fate of the old Richboro school is
one of the twin dramas that been unfolding in the town over the past
two years.
While the school has been received broad-based
support from residents, the fate of the inn, long a town landmark has
been debated in recent years.
In December 2000, frustrated by their
inability to get a developer to restore the Spread Eagle, the supervisors
set a March 15 deadline for its demolition. The supervisors were joined
by a number of critics who said the inn had become an eyesore and stood
too close to the intersection.
The
supervisors held off demolition after being assured that funds were
being raised to preserve the building, using private and public sources.
The supervisors, who last month awarded a $252,000 contract for moving
the building, have estimated it would cost an upwards of $650,000 to
restore it.
Matt Haist, chairman of the township's
Historical Commission, exemplifies the diverse views on the two buildings.
At public meetings, he has expressed doubt whether the inn was worth
saving.
"I'd rather see the school preserved
than the Spread Eagle," Haist said last week. "The school
is a lot more substantial and better built than the inn."
But resident Larice Burtt, an artist who
works with stone, took an opposite view regarding the inn. Like Haist,
she has attended some supervisors meeting.
"It is representative of Richboro,
and everyone uses it to give directions to visitors," said Burtt.
"It has a very special link to the past, especially as a stagecoach
stop for people coming from Philadelphia and New York."
Click
any link below to read Historical
articles
from the Bucks County Courier Times
Group
wants to preserve
86-year-old school building
Wednesday, March 31, 1999
Home
Sweet Home
Sunday, April 18, 1999
The
Pleasant Plains Public School
Built
in 1871
People
Are Flocking to Northampton
Living with Past Choices
Monday,
May 24, 1999
Cornerstone
Reveals Old Memories
Friday,
July 23, 1999
History
Set In Stone
Sunday,
September 12, 1999
Landmark
Restaurant to Make a Move
Friday, August 10, 2001
A
Lightning Move for the Spread Eagle
Thursday, December 6, 2001
Spread
Eagle's Move Went Well
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
'Citizen
of the Month' Knows Her Town's History
Monday, April 8, 2002
Supervisors Preserve Spread Eagle, School
Thursday, April 11, 2002
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