Huge piles of debris could be seen Wednesday night where the old parks office and Indiana American Water utility buildings had sat for decades. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.

By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The longtime former offices of the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department and the old Indiana American Water Utility buildings near Center Lake have been demolished.

The buildings along Canal Street and Center Lake were reduced to piles of debris as of Wednesday night, June 30.

The property is being cleared to make room for a multi-story building that is part of the Buffalo Street redevelopment project.

The entire project also includes new housing along North Buffalo Street, some of which has been constructed or is under construction and a new plaza overlooking Center Lake that opened earlier this year.

The future multi-purpose building is expected to include offices, retail and possibly some apartments.

Progress on the multi-purpose building has moved slower than expected and the city has not announced who will occupy much of the building, which will be constructed by Matthews LLC, of South Bend.

The parks staff vacated the old office about three years ago and is now located in the Pete Thorn Building on Park Avenue.

Eventually, the park’s office will occupy a new facility to be constructed near the corner of Indiana Avenue and Fort Wayne Street, which is about a block from its old location.

Demolition relied heavily on several heavy-duty excavators to take down the buildings. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.