The city is revealing more details about the rumored conversion of a landmarked Sunset Park building into a school, the Brooklyn Paper reports. The School Construction Authority announced plans Monday to either demolish or renovate the landmarked former police precinct building on Fourth Avenue and convert it into a 300-seat school.
The proposed conversion of the Sunset Park Castle received a mixed reaction. Some argued that a new school was critical to the neighborhood, while others argued that the city should figure out a way to use the existing building as a school instead of demolishing it. The community board along with the local City Councilman, Carlos Menchaca, were on board with the school conversion plan however.
Developer Yosef Streicher purchased the property for $6 million in August 2015, and planned to restore the building, convert it into a community facility, and create a condo building on the adjacent property. However the city has now reached an agreement with Streicher for the conversion.
The building has sat vacant since the 1970s, and was declared an individual landmark in 1983. If the city did in fact decide to move forward with demolition plans it would first need the Landmarks Commission to condemn the building, a mostly unheard of move on part of the LPC.