MARIETTA - With the last of the tenants moved out of the Preston Chase apartments on Franklin Road near Delk Road, the city is moving forward with plans to raze the dilapidated complex. Future plans are to convert the land into a park.

On Feb. 3, the City Council voted 6-1, with Anthony Coleman opposed, to buy the 13-acre property from Regions Bank for $2.7 million.

The council tasked the Marietta Housing Authority with moving tenants out of Preston Chase. MHA Executive Director Ray Buday said it was a fairly easy job to do once the leases of the tenants expired - especially since there are so many apartment vacancies in the Franklin Road corridor.

Councilman Johnny Sinclair, who chairs the council's three-member parks committee, said the council will likely leave the area as greenspace for a period after the complex is demolished, allowing staff time to work on design plans for the proposed park.

"Short term, you'll see some greenspace and shortly thereafter, we'll start the process of designing the finished product for the site, start doing community design meetings," Sinclair said. "We want to find out from the citizens and talk to the citizens parks committee and let them have a say in it."

City Manager Bill Bruton said the deadline to submit demolition bids is today. Once his staff selects the winner's bid, the demolition will occur, a process that will likely be complete by the fall.

"During that time, we will also be evaluating the possibility of having the fire department use the building for training," Bruton said.

The property purchase and demolition cost is funded through the $25 million parks bond voters approved last November. Because of the city's strong bond rating and timing in the financial markets that make municipal bonds attractive, bond investors actually purchased the bond at a premium, allowing the city to begin the program with $26.7 million.