Franklin Park Elementary School in Fort Myers will close Dec. 21 as it is scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt in 2023 and 2024. Following winter break, students will attend classes on a temporary campus at 1320 Marsh Ave. in Fort Myers. The school in the Dunbar community opened as an all-Black school in 1958 and was converted into a middle school in 1970 and integrated. In 1977, the school was renovated and returned to an elementary school. All but one classroom building and the gymnasium will be torn down and replaced. Both remaining structures will be thoroughly renovated. The new Franklin Park Elementary School will open in August 2024 with 579 student stations for grades K-5 and a 100-student capacity pre-K building. It will also become the School District of Lee County’s first true community school. The United Way, Lee Health, Florida Gulf Coast University and other partners will be incorporated into the campus to provide community wrap-around services on site.