Records Received - Brook Run Skate Park

The county has provided three items as per my request. The construction bid package submitted by the builder, the construction audit reports submitted by a consultant and a complete set of construction blueprints. We hope to post the blueprints to the web in the near future but until then the other items can be found by clicking the links below.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/skatepark_invoice_open_documents.p df

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/Skate_Park_Bid.pdf

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/skatepark_construction_audit_jan_m arch_2007.pdf

Records Request - Brook Run Skate Park

Dear Mr. Stamps,

I would like to make an Open Records Request regarding the construction of the Brook Run Skate Park. Please provide me all documents surrounding RFP 06-100022-ITB, any and all addendums, maps, surveys, as well as a complete copy of JM Wilkerson Construction Co’s bid proposal. If there are any other contractual agreements regarding sub-contractors, building construction plans, tree surveys, drainage surveys, light spillage surveys, landscape plans, plans for buffers & fencing, plans for parking or any other statements of work regarding this project, I would also like to obtain these copies as well.

I am also interested in the contract, sub-contract or work order for the tree removal in order to prepare the property for construction. Please provide all documentation as to the status of this aspect of the project as well.

If there are any fees in order to obtain all documents related to this project, my association would be willing to pay the replication costs.

Thanks in Advance,

John Heneghan, President
Dunwoody North Civic Association

E-mail to County regarding documents & benches

Dear Mr. Billups & Mr. Stamps,

Thank you for the opportunity to pick up the documents (in excess of 400 pages) this afternoon regarding the demolition of the Brook Run hospital which I have now copied to my civic association webpage for anyone who might be interested in reviewing them. I am happy to read about the Site Restoration plans & the fact that a tree survey will be conducted to ensure that no excess vegetation will be removed without your express approval.

As per my other request, I hate to sound ungrateful for the few benches you have provided near the big field & front entrance of the park but I wanted to make sure you understood that a few more benches strategically placed on the playground and near the restrooms would do wonders for the hundreds of visitors this park entertains on the weekends. Otherwise the seating on the playground will still be woefully inadequate!

Immediately below are the internet links of the documents you provided me today & down below are a few of the highlights that I was interested in learning about.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_open_records_in voice_Mar122007.pdf

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Environmental_P hase_1.pdf

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Demo_06-100027- ITB.pdf

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Final_Environme ntal_Assessment.pdf (Large File 26 MB)

Thanks again for the documents regarding the demolition of the buildings & your possible consideration of a few more benches for the playground.

I will be in contact if I have any further questions.

Sincerely,


John Heneghan, President
Dunwoody North Civic Association

Hospital Demolition Documentation Received

DeKalb County has fulfilled my request for information regarding the Demolition of the Hospital & other structures at Brook Run. They have provided me three documents totaling over 400 pages; now I just need to figure our exactly what these pages say.

Environmental Study – Phase 1 and limited sampling & testing, Brook Run Facility.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Environmental_P hase_1.pdf

Invitation to Bid, No. 06-1000027; Demolition of Designated Structures at Brook Run

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Demo_06-100027- ITB.pdf

Brook Run Pre-Demolition Assessment – September 2006 (Large File, 28 MB)

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Final_Environme ntal_Assessment.pdf

BrookRun Hospital Webpage Created & Ghost Sighting

Due to the March 7th Crier article regarding the closed section of Brook Run, the rumors of it being haunted, & the impending demolition of the hospital, a separate DNCA webpage has been dedicated to these matters.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/index.htm

'Wanton destruction' at Brook Run building

http://broadcastatlanta.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3561&Itemid=871

March 6, 2007
By Cathy Cobbs
For The Crier

A beautiful Sunday on the playground at a local park. Families are gathered around the park’s swing sets and water features, socializing while their children explore and play.

Down the road, in the same park, on the same afternoon, a group of teenagers, armed with spray paint cans, start decorating the walls of an empty building on the grounds, unconcerned about a group of men observing them.

It’s not the first time this former hospital building has been defaced. In fact, it’s difficult to find a part of the 300,000-square-foot structure, which has been documented to contain asbestos, that hasn’t been damaged or destroyed.Virtually all the windows have been shattered. Doors have been kicked in.A fence surrounding the building lies flat to the ground. Profanity-laced and gang-related graffiti and pornographic images cover the walls.

Signs that fires have been set in the building exist in several areas, and one forlorn couch sits in the building’s reception area, blackened and burnt. Exposed electrical wires and sockets, along with insulation and ceiling tiles, hang down from the ceiling. Empty 9-mm shells and 12-gauge shotgun shells litter the floors.The location for this scene of yin and yang, light and dark, good and evil? Dunwoody’s Brook Run on North Peachtree Road.

“It’s the worst place you could ever imagine, worse than Camden, New Jersey, which is absolutely the most terrible place in the world to live,” said one Dunwoody resident who toured the building several weeks ago. “It’s just one horrible thing after another.”

“I was incredibly shocked,” said another resident who also toured the facility several times. “It just goes on and on and on. The wanton destruction of this building, the unsafe conditions, is just beyond belief.”

The duo said the damage done to the hospital building isn’t something that happened overnight. In fact, it’s been years in the making.

“It’s obvious people have had access to this building for years and years,” the second resident said. “This isn’t something that happened over a weekend or two.”

At least one of the people touring the hospital isn’t surprised at all.

John Heneghan, a Dunwoody North resident, has been in and out of the old hospital building during the last six months, and has witnessed the degradation of the area.

“I was there six months ago and then again recently, and not much has changed,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get someone to secure that building for a long time.”

Heneghan said his concern is the graffiti and destruction is moving away from the hospital and into areas closer to the Children’s Adventure Playground at the front of the park’s entrance.

In a letter written to CEO Vernon Jones in late January, Heneghan said, “Behind the theater and behind a single story office building, the boarded up windows of the building had the plywood taken down, many (about five) windows were completely broken out, the lights were on and front door side glass panel was wide open. I stuck my head in the back window and noticed signs that people had used the space in the not-so-distant past. I see this as a major safety factor for our neighborhood children and a lack of due diligence as to the management of this property.”

In a February 15 post on Dunwoody North’s website (www.dunwoodynorth.org), Brook Run Conservancy’s Nick Nicodemus said, “In follow-up to conversation, (Police North Precinct Commander) Major Gillstrap has assigned Lt. Tracy the responsibility for checking out vacant buildings at Brook Run for suspicious activity. In conversation with Lt. Tracy today, DeKalb Police will be making daily sweeps of the park beginning Friday, February 16th.”

DeKalb County Spokesperson Kristie Swink confirmed that complaints had been received about “the after-hour activities” at the hospital and that police had been contacted to increase patrols in the area.

In addition, Swink said a $1.3 million contract had just been awarded to Dore & Associates, Inc. for demolition and asbestos abatement at the hospital. The contract also includes demolition of the park’s power plant and several dormitories near the power plant.

“The work is expected to start by March 15,” Swink said. “I don’t have information as to when the work is supposed to be complete.”

Local residents remain particularly concerned that authorities haven’t secured a facility known to contain hazardous materials.

“This is a known hazardous materials site, which should never be open to the public,” one citizen said. “It should be secured and barricaded and it is not even close to being anywhere near that.”

Meanwhile, children and their families continue to play on the park’s nearby playground. And the former hospital building remains open and unsecured, an open target for continuing vandalism, danger, and trouble.

Reprinted with permission from the Dunwoody Crier: www.thecrier.net.

Request for Demolition Documentation & Benches

Good Morning Mr. Billups,

Thank you for your offer to assist me if I had additional questions, I have several. I was at Brook Run on Sunday and noticed that one bench was finally installed around the great lawn at the front of the park (away from the actual playground) & there appeared to be two others planed in that same area since there were templates laid out on two other concrete slabs. I also noticed one picnic table in the front shelter and another near a shelter on the playground, thank you for those. I take it that installation is moving slow on these items and was wondering exactly how many benches were purchased for the playground so that parents can watch their children? From what I could tell, on most weekends there are parents standing everywhere and there should be enough seating so that the rock walls are not further damaged. If only several benches are installed on the concrete pads away from the actual swings & slides, the seating on the playground will still be woefully inadequate. Please let me know how many benches have been ordered for parents to sit near the various swing sets & slides. I have again included my PowerPoint presentation which clearly identifies locations as where benches could possibly be placed in the playground, at the back entrance near the parking lot, as well as several near the restrooms.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/hospital/Brook_Run_Park_CAB_01232007.pdf

In your letter below, you also mentioned that the demolition contract was being finalized for the hospital & I noted that it was awarded to Dore & Associates on January 23rd therefore I would have expected that the demolition would have begun already? My constituents & I am very interested in seeing that these buildings are properly removed as fast as possible and that it be done properly, therefore I would like to request a full copy of RFP 06-100027 “DEMOLITION OF DESIGNATED STRUCTURES AT BROOK RUN PARK” any and all addendums, maps and literature, as well as a copy of Dore’s bid proposal. If there are any other contractual agreements, demolition plans or statements of work, I would also like to obtain these copies as well. I am hoping that the terms of the “site restoration” is fully documented so as to return as much of the property to green space as possible.

If there are any fees in order to obtain all documents related to the demolition & restoration of these buildings, my association would be willing to pay the replication costs.

Thanks in Advance,

John Heneghan, President
Dunwoody North Civic Association