We have all seen this kind of thing happen beore in Jacksonville – a beautiful old, historic building lost through neglect. In this case it isn't for the lack of trying. Public School No. 4 has a lot stacked against it. Built in 1918, it overlooked Riverside Park before construction of the I-95/I-10 interchange isolated the building. It closed in 1960, then was used by the school system for administrative offices until 1971. The building has been vacant ever since. Over the years many grand ideas have been proposed for the old school. One of the more recent ideas, condos, came about during the building boom a few years back but further expansion of I-95, the historic landmark designation and the rumored asbestos problems put a halt to the idea.Today, the latest idea is for converting the building into 33 residential housing units for senior citizens 55 years old and up. Developer Carlton Jones, president of Renaissance Development Group, also wants to add on to the building and create another 100 units. He said ideally the renovations could start in about nine months. >>Read more at the Daily Record.
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