Brookhaven demos old vital records building for new park

The old Department of Public Health Vital Records office on Sklyand Drive will be demolished to make way for a new park. Google Earth

The old Department of Public Health Vital Records office on Sklyand Drive will be demolished to make way for a new park. Google Earth

The city of Brookhaven will demolish the former home of the Georgia Department of Public Health Vital Records Office on July 24 to make way for a new, state-of-the-art public park. This is the result of an agreement in 2016 with the DeKalb County Board of Education to exchange property for a new park to be called Skyland Park.

The DeKalb Board of Education last year purchased the old park from Brookhaven for $4.7 million and the office building from the state for $2.8 million.

A school will also be built on the old Skyland Park property to help alleviate overcrowding at nearby schools in the Cross Keys Cluster, including Dresden, Montclair and Woodward elementary schools.

Construction on the new park will begin first, as officials hope to open the park near when the old park must be shut down to begin constructing the school.

City officials said they hope to have the park open by January 2018.