In the meantime, thousands of pieces of abandoned artwork and artifacts have been rescued.
Action News got a first look as the owner of Thunderbird Salvage in Kensington sets up a pop-up shop to reunite that art with its creators.
George Mathes says walking into the storied, and now vacant, University of the Arts building on Broad Street was like finding a treasure trove.
"When I saw what was there, I was like, 'We need to save everything we can,'" he says.
Mathes recently opened a second location he now calls Thunderbird Hall on the 2800 block of Frankford Avenue. This is where he's staging all of the recovered art and artifacts his team recovered at UArts.
They've been cleaning out the now vacant university for weeks, filling truckloads with art and sculpture, silk screens, self portraits and more.
"As soon as we got there, they were ready to throw it away, and so we just basically intercepted everything and we got it. We got the good stuff. We got it all," Mathes says.
The bounty includes entire student portfolios.
They also rescued art supplies, tools, furniture: all kinds of reusable items with a lot of love left in them.
"We didn't have to save this stuff, but it's good stuff," he says, pointing to easels and unopened clay, brushes, canvas, frames - you name it.
This weekend, Thunderbird is hosting the first of what's expected to be many weekends of UArts pop-up sales.
"You're going to have to dig," he says, showing us bins and bins of art.
Mathes is passionate about saving the deep history of University of the Arts, one of the oldest schools in the country, dating back to the 1870s.
He's anxious to reconnect the artwork with the artist.
"I'm an artist myself," he says. "I know what it takes to make this stuff. When I see all of this handmade, beautiful art, I know that this is important stuff that we need to save."
Mathes says he was not compensated for this salvaging project. This was a calling.
"Nobody has to do this, but I have to do this," he says. "I made myself have to do this. I put everything I had into this."
Students and staff will get the first chance to sift through the art Saturday, August 16 at 10 a.m. at Thunderbird Hall, where they can reclaim their personal work for free.
Then, at 2 p.m., it's open to the public.
The sale runs August 16-17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and every weekend that follows until it's the artwork is all gone.
Thunderbird Hall
2856 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, Pa. 19134
For more information on this sale, visit Thunderbird Hall on Instagram.