Residents determined to save Ardmore Junior High from ruins have vowed to fight on despite a Commonwealth Court decision upholding the demolition.
Attorney Alan Candor, representing four Lower Merion residents, said Tuesday that he would file an appeal of the June 18 ruling by today's deadline.
Meanwhile, the school district is trying to move ahead with the demolition, which now may cost more than the $1.5 million budgeted last year.
A panel of three judges rejected the Lower Merion residents' contention that the state Department of Education and the school district had denied them a hearing in the case and had ignored historic preservation laws in authorizing the demolition last year.
"It's not our position to tell the school board what they have to do with the building," Candor said.
"Our goal is to make sure that in the decision-making process, they consider alternatives to demolition."
The residents have argued that the school has historic value as one of the first in the United States built for middle-school age students and that the building can be used for more than educational purposes.
"These things simply are being ignored, and we're going to keep on fighting it until somebody tells us to drop it," Candor said.
Charles Potash, solicitor for the district, has asked the state Supreme Court to lift an order preventing demolition until all legal objections had been settled.
Candor said the further appeal by the residents could prevent the Supreme Court from taking that action.
The case represented the first challenge under the 1988 Pennsylvania History Code, which says that state agencies must adopt policies regarding the protection of historic buildings.
The residents contended that because the state Department of Education had control of Ardmore Junior High, the agency must take steps to preserve it if it were determined historic.
In the June 18 ruling, the judges said the Lower Merion School District, not the state department, had control of the building so the History Code did not apply.
Candor said the appeal would focus on the court's definition of ''control." He said he would contend that because the state department must approve the demolition, the department does have control of the building.
The school was closed in 1978 because of declining enrollment. In May 1988 the school board voted to tear it down and last June received permission from the Department of Education to proceed.
In August, the board accepted bids totaling $1.5 million for the demolition of the building and renovation of the gym as a storage area, according to Scott Shafer, district business manager.
Last September, contractors began removing stones from the facade of the building but were ordered to stop when the Supreme Court decided to delay the demolition until all appeals were settled.
Shafer said Tuesday that the school district still had contracts with the demolition crews and would have to honor them if the demolition were allowed to continue.
The cost, however, could increase because the price of labor and materials might have risen in the months of delay. Shafer would not estimate the additional cost.
Candor said he expected a ruling on the appeal within 60 days. If the residents lose again, he will appeal the case to the state Supreme Court, he said.
