The City of Philadelphia (City) through Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (PPR) has requested permission to use defined spaces on the first floor and exterior of the Daroff building (Daroff) owned by the The School District of Philadelphia (District) at 5360 Vine Street as a temporary venue to provide recreational programming while the nearby Shepard Recreation Center is under renovation starting on June 15, 2023 through June 14, 2024 with options to extend the agreement in 3-month increments for up to nine (9) months.

Since Daroff is currently unoccupied, there are minimal staff assigned to the building.  PPR has proposed using Daroff between 8 to 11 hours per day and 7 days per week for the duration of the license agreement.  This schedule will require the District to assign additional staff coverage to Daroff (i.e., a Building Engineer and cleaning staff).  Because these District staff do not typically work on weekends, those working hours must be paid at overtime rates.  In addition, there will be higher utilities and maintenance costs incurred by the District.  In total, the incremental costs to the District for PPR’s use of Daroff for the 12-month period from June 15, 2023 through June 14, 2024 is estimated at $380,000 and that figure is the basis for the license fee.  

PPR has indicated that they are not in a position to pay the license fee associated with their proposed usage of Daroff.  So, the license agreement will not provide for any license fee payments from PPR.  The District has initiated discussions with the City’s Finance Office to address payment for these costs in another way.