MARIETTA - The City Council has called a special meeting today to discuss possibly buying and demolishing an apartment complex in the dilapidated Franklin Road area, then turning the property into parkland.

Councilman Johnny Sinclair, chair of the city's parks and recreation committee, said he favored the purchase because he believes that area of town is underserved by parkland.

"I think they're underserved, and it's a great deal," he said. "I believe it to be a great deal. We'll be very cautious in how we move forward."

The council has invited members of its citizens parks committee to attend the meeting, which is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. today on the fourth floor of City Hall.

In a Tuesday e-mail to committee members and the Journal, Councilman Jim King, who chairs the citizens parks committee, said the funding source for the purchase would be the recently passed parks bond.

"This is a great opportunity for the city and requires immediate quick action, and I think it is important that the committee members who wish to attend, do so," King wrote.

Sinclair said he would reveal the address of the property and its proposed purchase price after today's meeting.

Another city official said the property, which adjoins existing city land, was brought to the council's attention by city attorney Doug Haynie. The apartment building has been foreclosed upon by a bank, the official said.

"When we heard about the price that the bank would sell it for, it just sparked everybody's interest," the official said.

The Marietta Housing Authority would reportedly manage the apartment building until the time came to demolish it.

Marietta school board Chairman Randy Weiner said about 1,000 children live in the apartment buildings on Franklin Road.

Redeveloping the blighted Franklin Road area has been an interest of the city for some time. The Marietta Housing Authority received a setback last month upon learning it did not win a $20 million federal grant in stimulus funding it had applied for last year to tear down some apartment buildings on Franklin Road. The plan was to use that money to purchase and level two of the 11 apartment complexes on Franklin Road. Two complexes listed on the grant application were the 400-unit Casa Mia and 200-unit Preston Chase, which have rolled in and out of foreclosure proceedings. Leveling the apartments would allow space for Economic Development Director Beth Sessoms' proposal for a "Global GreenTech Corridor" in the 500-acre area, which would establish a mixed-use development. But Marietta struck out on the federal grant.