Sunday, August 26, 2001
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Sunday, August 26, 2001 |
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Day care deal for Market falls through
By MONROE ROARK
It looks like market forces will keep the Market empty a while longer. Fayette Christian School received approval from Fayetteville officials several months ago to place a day care facility on the site, at the corner of Jeff Davis and East Lanier Avenue, but financial issues have forced the school to drop the project, school administrator Phillip Woods said this week. "Bottom line, the finances just didn't work out," said Woods. "When we figured out the costs of renovations and everything else, it just didn't work." The City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission were more than happy to see the school take over the Market after the previous tenants left. The Market teen club was shut down last winter amid an eruption of controversy after allegations of lewd dancing and underage drinking on and near the premises led to several arrests. The school had received a variance to allow up to 138 children to be cared for on the property, after the completion of certain renovations and alterations to the building and grounds. The entire school, from K-3 through the 12th grade, is housed on a single campus on the north end of Fayetteville. This move was due to space limitations caused by growing enrollment in the younger grades, Woods told city officials in March. Enrollment is actually down a bit overall from last year, Woods said Tuesday, but not with the younger students. Fayette Baptist Church, which operates the school, purchased property south of Fayetteville off Ga. Highway 92 some time ago with the idea of moving the entire campus there, Woods said, but the county would not rezone that property and it is now for sale. "We're still looking for another permanent location for the entire campus, 20 to 30 acres, which is hard to find in the Fayetteville area for a reasonable price," said Woods. "Right now, everything's just on hold." The collapse of the plans for the Market was not great news to city officials, either, as that large storefront will stay vacant a while longer, along with such sites at the former K-mart and Roberds on Ga. Highway 85. City Manager Joe Morton said that nothing concrete has been reported to the city on prospective tenants for any of these sites. "We haven't heard anything lately," he said Tuesday. "There were a few rumors about the old K-mart, but that's all." Morton pointed out that the city's situation has improved a great deal in the past year with regard to vacant commercial space, as the former Winn-Dixie, Belk and Shoney's locations have been filled by new tenants World Gym, Stein Mart and Hooters. "We're definitely heading in the right direction," he said.
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