Another chapter in the Avanti sage will be gone

[lschuc]

Avanti buildings on verge of demolition

by Spencer Crawford/The Villa Rican

06.17.09

Preliminary work is being completed this week in anticipation of the

demolition of a handful of buildings on the former Avanti property in

downtown Villa Rica, paving the way for construction of a new park and

municipal complex on the site.

Contractors had already salvaged 1,800 square feet of hardwood

flooring from the hosiery buildings that will eventually be used in

the new city hall building, as well as some of the metal works. This

week, the cityÂ’s contractor began removing asbestos from the buildings

slated for demolition.

Also, this week, Georgia Power removed all of the old transformers and

transferred power to the new transformers, the phone lines in the old

buildings were disconnected and city officials are meeting with the

architects from MacTech to kick off the design portion of the project

that will result in blueprints for the municipal complex based on a

conceptual drawing presented to the public a few months ago.

“It’s going to be a big week for the Avanti complex,” Deputy City

Manager Jeff Reese said. “Once we get the power disconnected and the

phone lines disconnected, itÂ’s going to be bulldozers going full speed

ahead. Everything should be ready for them to do that next week.”

Demolition of the buildings is scheduled to take about six weeks, but

city officials are optimistic that nothing unexpected will be found

and the work can be completed sooner. Once the buildings are down and

the rubble is removed, the next phase of the project will be

construction of a park and amphitheater that will be featured

prominently at the intersection of Temple Street and Highway 61 near

the railroad tracks. That portion of the project is being funded with

$400,000 in SPLOST monies granted to the city by the Carroll County

Board of Commissioners for new greenspace.

City officials had hoped the park would be completed in time for the

cityÂ’s annual Gold Rush Festival held the first Saturday in September,

but that schedule was delayed somewhat in acquiring permits from EPD

for the asbestos removal. However, Reese said the park would be

completed before cold weather arrives in late fall.

Construction of the municipal complex is slated for seven phases,

which will be completed over several years as funds become available.

Demolition of the old buildings, construction of the park and the

creation of design blue prints will get the project through the first

three phases.

© times-georgian.com 2009