Doraville starts demolitions to make way for a new downtown

Zoom in: The grand plan calls for clearing the Park Avenue buildings to develop 13 acres with a central green space, new streets, multifamily housing and restaurants.

• New Peachtree Road and Buford Highway bookend the land, and Doraville's MARTA station is across the street. The plan includes trail hook-ups to Peachtree Creek Greenway and, by extension, the Atlanta Beltline.
• The vision's centerpiece is The People's Building, a 30,000-square-foot municipal complex that will house Doraville's City Hall, a public library, creator studios, rooftop spots for private rentals and restaurants.

What they're saying: "This site has been the center of Doraville's civic life for 150 years," Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman said in a statement.

• "As we take down these buildings, we are making way for a reinvigorated downtown that will remain the heart of our city for decades to come," he said.

Zoom out: Several suburban Atlanta cities have taken steps to revive historic main streets and retrofit strip malls into community centers.

• The Atlanta Regional Commission's Livable Centers Initiative helps local governments pay for designing the vision. Making it a reality requires political will and local resources.

What's next: City leaders and development partners will celebrate the beginning of the demolition process at the Park Avenue site in a ceremony at 10am Saturday.