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CSD considers including Early Childhood Learning Center in MARTA redevelopment

Avondale Estates Decatur

CSD considers including Early Childhood Learning Center in MARTA redevelopment

This image comes from the profile of the Avondale MARTA station on the Itsmarta.com website. It shows the area that will be turned into a transit oriented development.
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This image comes from the profile of the Avondale MARTA station on the Itsmarta.com website. It shows the area that will be turned into a transit oriented development.

This image comes from the profile of the Avondale MARTA station on the Itsmarta.com website. It shows the area that will be turned into a transit oriented development.

A proposal being studied by the City Schools of Decatur would move the system’s Early Childhood Learning Center into a mixed-use project slated for the Avondale MARTA station.

At its Aug. 11 meeting, School Board members will be asked to approve spending $125,000 to $150,000 for architectural drawings so, “CSD … might be included in the funding which (developer) Columbia Ventures LLC is seeking to get the project started.”

According to the board meeting agenda, “(Superintendent Phyllis Edwards) and the School Board, have been exploring options related to the possible need for an early childhood center should College Heights be needed as an elementary school in the future. Columbia Ventures LLC (the developer) has a planned mixed use project at Sams Street and East College Avenue.”

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During the Aug. 11 meeting, board members will hear a presentation about “the proposed project and see where the proposed building will sit on that property.”

Like the city’s pending land purchases, the project is contingent upon a $75 million bond referendum passing in November. The school board is currently under contract for about six acres along Talley Street. During the Aug. 11 meeting, Chairman Garret Goebel is expected to give an update about the school system’s planned property purchases, according to the agenda.

CSD will also have to pay off the money it borrowed to develop the Early Childhood Learning Center at its current site on South McDonough Street. If the Early Childhood Learning Center is moved, the current site will likely be re-purposed as an elementary school.

“The loan to the fund that developed the building as an ECLC would need to be paid off before it can be repurposed into an elementary school,” the agenda says. ” …. The entire process would take three to four years.”

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