Demolition On Franklin School Begins Making Room For New Park (VIDEO)

December 15, 2014 Updated Dec 15, 2014 at 11:10 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (21Alive) Demolition begins on an old school building that will be converted into a park.

Around 11 a.m. Monday, a crane was brought in to demolish part of the old Franklin School building. Fort Wayne City officials say that site will be transformed into a park.

The Franklin Junior High building is predicted to be around 100-years old. It was most recently used as a training site for the Fort Wayne Police Academy, but residents say the buildings been sitting empty for the past couple years. Since then, there have been several proposals on what to do with it, like office space or housing, but Fort Wayne Parks Department Director, Al Moll, says the neighborhoods surrounding the school have been pushing for a park.

The Parks Department predicts the project will cost approximately $1 million. The City is investing $335,000, but the two-phase project is still $465,000 short on funding.

The Parks Dept. has already drawn-up some plans for the four acre space, which is unofficially called Franklin Park. It will include a splash pad, pathways, festival plaza, and the old firing range will be renovated into a pavilion. The three limestone arches that are part of the schools original architecture will be preserved and used as an entryway to the park.

On Monday night, a public input meeting was held to see if residents would like to add or remove anything from the proposed plans. Residents suggested things like benches, picnic tables, shaded areas, decorative lighting and sculpture art. However, what residents seemed to want the most is an office built into the pavilion for the neighborhood police liaison.

"Police presence in the neighborhood is very important. If they've got their cars parked there then it really helps us. I don't think we'll have many problems then, said Bud Mendenhall, President of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood Association.

"We got real used to when the Police Academy was here and the police presence is always a good thing to have, so we want to encourage that again. Police officers also get to know the neighbors then, said Kay Smith-Shoemaker, President of the North Highlands Neighborhood Association.

Phase I of the project will cost $600,000 and includes site development and the splash pad. Phase II entails renovating the pavilion, building the festival plaza, and landscape improvements at a cost of $150,000. Theres also a $100,000 contingency.

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Demolition On Franklin School Begins Making Room For New Park (VIDEO)