Protest Over Schuylkill Center Potential Land Sale

ROXBOROUGH, PHILADELPHIA — Locals and Roxborough residents are planning to gather in protest of a potential sale of land owned by the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

The protest is planned for 8 a.m. Thursday at the corner of Hagy’s Mill and Port Royal in Roxborough.

Organizers said the center's board in July said it was exploring the potential sale of 24 acres of land — known as the Boy Scout Tract — to fund several transformational initiatives.

"The land is not connected to the core holdings of 340 acres of permanently protected open space, the largest protected parcel in the city, and is not used in their programming," according to organizers. "Among the initiatives this sale would fund are investing in staff who bring the Center and the land to life, education programs, and an aging infrastructure, including the wildlife clinic, the only rehabilitation facility in the city."

On Tuesday, the Schuylkill Center’s Board of Trustees announced that several potential
opportunities for preservation have recently been presented to the organization, organizers said.

As a result, the Center is indefinitely suspending its request for proposals to develop the Boy Scout Tract, the 24-acre site on Port Royal Avenue in Upper Roxborough, organizers said