'Open House' for Philadelphia schools for sale

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Potential buyers got a sneak peek inside two of the Philadelphia school buildings that the district has decided to sell. It's the first of several "Open Houses" over the next two weeks.

Once a proud landmark on North Broad Street, William Penn High School, built in 1970, is now a massive eyesore, neglected and deteriorating five years after the last student walked the halls.

It's now on the list of 20 closed down Philadelphia school buildings listed for sale to help close the school district's massive budget deficit.

A mechanical engineer hired to assess the cost of rehab estimates the total to be in the hundreds of millions.

Temple University up the street from William Penn is interested in the school building, according to sources.

"Whoever purchases this would have to have money that could handle the rehab of the mechanical and electrical systems," engineer Mark Washington said.

On Monday, it was mostly consultants for potential buyers roaming the 9.5 acre campus with over 500,000 square feet in space.

Most say with deep enough pockets, it could be made viable again.

"Air condition system, there's no elevator, making things handicapped applicable," engineering consultant Thomas Berrian said.

This afternoon, dozens of potential buyers and consultants filed into the Walter Smith School in South Philadelphia for the second open house of the day. The building opened in 1921.

"Beautiful, old building. Very well built. Sturdy, doesn't leak. It would be a good investment," fire consultant Bob Goskill said.

Architect Jerry Roller says the school building could be converted into apartments.

"It's in the middle of a residential area, up and growing neighborhood, this would make a nice residential building," Roller said.