LoRes-TV: Saving an Estate and Art Education

David Dobson has already spent nine months in court to save the historic, 42-acre estate of William Elkins in Cheltenham Township from certain development, forming the Land Conservancy of Elkins Park to purchase and preserve the site of two Gilded Age Trumbauer mansions and reuse the property as a health and wellness education retreat and an elegant venue for private events.

Dobson, though, is nowhere near done. He is now attempting to revive another part of the estate, the former site of Temple University's Tyler School of Art. The estate was built in 1898 as summer home for William L. Elkins a wildly successful businessman and inventor who basically invented gasoline by pioneering the refinement of crude oil. It was one of the first homes to be electrified, and his daughter Stella donated her piece of the estate to Temple for its new art school in 1934. About 18 months ago, Temple moved Tyler to its main campus in North Philadelphia.

Dobson has developed plans with charter and private schools to continue the estate's art education tradition and is working with Temple, the philanthropic community in Greater Philadelphia and Tyler alumni to develop a funding stream that would finance an art school for middle school-aged students and a summer camp program for arts, music and dance.

Video by Walking Whale