Historic Florida school undergoes demolition

A Pensacola, Florida, school built in 1928 is undergoing demolition and will be replaced with 76 townhomes, a report by The Pulse says. 

Demolition permits were issued in January to demolish Hallmark School and were set to expire in March, but due to concerns over asbestos, city officials upheld the permits. City building official Bill Weeks says in the report that that the building could not be demolished until it was tested and abated for asbestos and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the structure.

Maverick Demolition, Pensacola, tore down most of the library outbuilding by Aug. 24 and were working at the interior of the main school building.

Since the building is not located within any of the city’s historic districts, it was not granted any protection from redevelopment. According to the report, a historic preservation ordinance was introduced by the city council president and proposed a requirement for the board to review any structure build before 1940 before demolishing it. The proposal was pulled before any votes.

The school was named for George Stone Hallmark, a prominent Pensacola judge. The report says it closed in 2011 and was sold in 2013 for $1 million to 349 LLC, Pensacola. 349 attempted to develop the property unsuccessfully and sold it in July to D.R. Horton, Dallas, for $1.65 million.

City council issued final approval of the plan proposed by D.R. Horton in June. The plans call for 76 .03-acre townhome parcels around the perimeter of the five-acre site. No other details have been released about the plans.