

In February, they asked for the borough’s support for a $1 million grant application. The building is owned by Real Estate Collaborative LLC, a subsidiary of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation. Closing the middle school, they said, would provide a savings of $1.15 million. The school was closed in 2013, when West Shore School District officials were seeking a way to cut operating costs the following school year. One of the investors told PennLive that a renovation could cost $12 million. If the company does not win a contract to house state workers, the property could offer rental space to other companies or nonprofits, and could feature some retail space, including a community gathering area.


Two elevators would be added to the building and the gym would be transformed into two stories to add more square footage. The football field would be turned into a parking area that could include 650 spaces. The group hopes to turn the building into office space possibly for up to 900 state workers. The building was sold this year to a group of investors. Plans for Key Charter School in 2014 and Arts to the Core charter school in 2017 to open at the former high school didn’t work out. The diocese had been looking to sell the building on Market Street for several years. The school built a $45 million campus in Lower Paxton Township which opened in 2013. McDevitt was the first high school in the Harrisburg Diocese. The school was established in 1930 after the diocese outgrew its former school on North Street. The building includes classrooms, laboratories, administrative offices, a gymnasium/auditorium, cafeterias, locker rooms, the football field, more than an acre of parking and more. The longtime former high school that sits on eight acres was recently sold by the Diocese of Harrisburg.
