Powder Springs starts demolition of $1M building for park, splash pad

Sometimes buying a $1 million building only to tear it down is the cost of doing business for a municipality.

Such is the case with Powder Springs, as it began demolition Tuesday on a downtown office building, 4485 North Town Square, which is expected to last 30 days.

“It’s been one of those spaces that has not had good occupancy ever,” said city manager Pam Connor.

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Credit: City of Powder Springs

Credit: City of Powder Springs

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This knockdown is the biggest physical representation of the city's creation of an anchor for downtown Powder Springs, with its many empty storefronts.

The city of 15,000 residents has taken on an additional $4.2 million in debt to build a park that can act as a venue and stop on the popular Silver Comet trail. The bond was approved March 19.

Oh, and it'll have a splash pad. A similar water feature opened to much fanfare in Kennesaw last year.

The park’s goal, said economic development director Stephanie Alyworth, is to build a “downtown destinational amenity.”

This idea of a park came out of a study to revitalize the city’s downtown. Part of the plan is to connect the park to the Silver Comet, which starts in Cobb County and snakes for more than 60 miles to Alabama.

Credit: City of Powder Springs

Credit: City of Powder Springs

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Alyworth said they were inspired by downtown redevelopment efforts in places like Woodstock, Suwanee and Duluth.

Powder Springs has big plans for the new space, according to descriptions from city officials and renderings.

There would be green space, a small amphitheater, an earthen berm for seating, outdoor ping pong tables. There will also be a “pedestrian paseo,” which is a fancy way of saying place to walk.

Connor, the city manager, said the plans should be 50 percent done by June and totally finished by August or September.

She expects the contractor will be picked by the end of the year and then construction, which should start late this year or early next year, will take between nine and 12 months.

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Check out more renderings: