A new petition at Change.org has been started to save the Airy Street Prison in Norristown from being demolished, but will it be enough to breathe new life into the old building?

This isn’t the first attempt concerned citizens have made to find a new purpose for the prison. Unfortunately, none of the proposals have made it out of the planning stages, writes Russell Rubert for The Times Herald.

All of the proposed plans ultimately were never approved.

The group, Conserve Our Old Prison, was established in 2000 to conduct a study on using the building as a museum. Then Elmwood Park Zoo considered turning the building into a zoo annex or a Butterfly Aviary and Natural History Education Center.

A more recent, although not official proposal, is for the building to house a local area fire company. Aprons at the front and back would need to be added, but the proposed design would preserve the original 1851 façade.

The prison was designed by Napoleon LeBrun, who also designed the Philadelphia Academy of Music and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

Rubert said in his commentary that more creative and inspired uses of the old prison are needed.

“Here we have our very own castle in the center of town. We should make the most of it…This is a golden opportunity to take a bit of the best of the past and marry it to modern uses to give birth to a brighter future. For Norristown, Montgomery County, and Pennsylvania,” he wrote.

Read more about preserving the old prison in The Times Herald.

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More on the Norristown Preservation Society.