A four-story, five-bay, reinforced concrete building, clad in brick and designed in the Late Gothic Revival-style, it features a projecting entrance with terra cotta ornament, a projecting multi-story terra cotta bay, terra cotta decorative panels and a parapet.[2] The school was named for United States Army general and statesman Anthony Wayne (1745–1786).
The school district stopped maintaining the building in 1976.[3] The School District of Philadelphia closed the building in 1981, and in 1987 Geriatric & Medical Centers (Geri-Med) purchased the building with plans to make a nursing home. However by 1993 the project had not started and the condition of the facility had deteriorated.[4] According to Geri-Med, by 1994, the municipal government had not yet issued the necessary permits.[5]
In 1995 there was a proposal to demolish the school.[3]
It is now used as senior housing. Redevelopment began in 2003, and there were a total of 39 units made. That phase ended in 2005. New construction made up the other phases, with the last completed in 2018.[6] Kenyatta Adams, a member of the Philadelphia City Council, assisted with the project.[7]