Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of a gate at the NexusPark demolition area in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022.
Demolition is expected to start next week on the former Goody’s clothing store space at NexusPark, as officials prepare to construct a sports fieldhouse on the north side of the mall property.
City officials said Wednesday that the former department store and later Cummins Inc. office space will be “crushed and then removed” over the course of two weeks.
“The first week, they have to detach the building from the rest of the mall,” said Mary Ferdon, the city’s executive director of administration and community development. “So, that will take place next week. And then the second week, so that would be Aug. 22., we’ll start seeing the building crushed and then removed.”
The vast majority of the materials collected from the demolition will be reused and recycled, Ferdon said. Officials said they expect to begin building the sports fieldhouse in February.
The announcement of the demolition occurred during a NexusPark Community Development Corp. board meeting on Wednesday.
The board, which includes Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop and Columbus Regional Health President and CEO Jim Bickel, also approved contracts during the meeting to replace the facility’s fire alarm system and design interior and exterior signage to help guide people around the property.
The board approved a $181,802 contract with Koorsen Fire and Security to replace the fire system, which dates back to the 1980s, officials said. The board also gave the green light to a $128,420 contract with Corbin Design to design the signage.
In addition, officials said they need to “keep a tighter track” on the facility’s security after “some break-ins” on the property.
Suspects have attempted to break into two tenant spaces on the mall property and police reports have been filed, said Dave Lenart, who is on the NexusPark facilities committee. Officials have “made some attempts” to secure the doors that have been broken into and made some repairs to Dunham’s common door space to replace some glass.
“This is something that we’re going to have to keep a tighter track on in the future when the building starts to open up with construction,” Lenart said. “Even though we’ll have security fences, we’re going to have to pay particular attention to the integrity of the barriers going forward.”
