Crews are demolishing a vacant nursery building to make way for a new Gresham public safety building in Rockwood.

Demolition of the old Kasch’s Garden Center in the 600 block of Northeast 181st Avenue began Monday, July 23, and will continue all week, said Laura Shepard, Gresham spokeswoman.

“It’s an exciting milestone for the project and in the overarching urban renewal plan,” she said.

Gresham voters in 2003 approved a 20-year urban renewal district for the West Gresham-Rockwood area. It was the city’s first such district and included plans for a police facility.

But the project stalled when it was coupled with an effort to build a new courthouse in Gresham. The justice center concept collapsed under the weight of an ever-increasing price tag, leading to separate courthouse and police facilities.

The courthouse opened in April in Rockwood at Southeast 185th Avenue and Stark Street, just one month after Gresham urban renewal officials paid $775,000 for 2.3 acres on which to build the public safety facility less than a mile away on Northeast 181st Avenue.

Residents hope the one-two punch of both justice-oriented buildings will be catalysts for development and improve the area known for its high crime and poverty rates.

The new 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot police building will complement the city’s existing police department building located at Gresham City Hall, 1333 N.W. Eastman Parkway. Cost of the new building is anticipated to be about $3.3 million.

Construction is scheduled to start early next year and be done by the end of 2013.