Montgomery County · Whitemarsh · MCPC #24-0235-001
Gemma Services- Whitemarsh Campus
5168 & 5200 Butler Pike, Whitemarsh, PA · 28,150 sq ft non-residential, school · 20.7 acres
About this project
Gemma Services plans to move its private K-12 school, Martin Luther School, onto the Butler Pike site in Whitemarsh. The existing office building will be converted into classrooms with a two-story gymnasium addition, and the old rodeo grounds and several outbuildings will be demolished to make room for a large synthetic turf athletic field with a track, bleachers and a field house, plus new driveway and parking work.
County planning commission: Supports, with comments
Issues raised: Existing surface parking lots do not meet off-street parking design standards, Missing landscape islands in parking lots, Missing 10 ft planting strip for lots over 30 spaces, No pedestrian safety measures separating walkers from vehicles, No shade trees planned inside parking lot interiors, Inconsistent with Whitemarsh Township's 2028 residential-character land use vision
- Applicant
- Gemma Services
- Zoning
- CLI
- Approvals needed
- preliminary/final land development approval
- Demolition
- Several out-buildings and the former Lulu Temple rodeo area and grounds
Filing history
- 2024-10-29 · MCPC #24-0235-001 · Land Dev Plan, Prelim Plan · 28,150 sq ft
County review letters
2024-10-29 · WHITE 24-0235-001r.pdf
Scope estimate for contractors
Estimated construction value: $9.9M
- ~140 roofing squares (assumes 2 stories)
- ~70 tons of cooling (rule of thumb 400 sq ft/ton)
- ~6.0 acres of site work (grading, stormwater, landscaping)
- Synthetic turf multipurpose field with track, bleachers and field house
- Gymnasium addition with playground and basketball courts
- Renovation of existing office building for school use
- New driveway connecting two existing parking lots and one-way loop lane
- Re-striping, lighting and improvements to existing parking lots
- Stormwater management facilities