Losing a school can devastate a neighborhood or be the catalyst to re-energize an entire area.

Consider how the rebirth of Ivywild Elementary School as a brewery and home to assorted small businesses has re-energized the area south of downtown.

Then consider the panic among Cragmor residents as Bates Elementary is targeted for demolition to make way for an apartment complex for students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Similar fears exist among neighbors of the old Lincoln Elementary School on North Cascade Avenue, on the eastern edge of Roswell neighborhood, just beyond the Old North End. On Monday night, about 50 neighbors filled the auditorium of the school, built in 1948, to hear the latest plan offered by a developer interested in buying the 3-acre property.

It was a testy meeting as neighbors were mostly unimpressed by the plan, and several complained that it was far short of specifics to justify their support.

Perhaps they are skeptical because three previous buyers have come and gone after making bids to Colorado Springs School District 11 for the school.

One wanted a mix-use campus for nonprofit groups and low-income housing. A charter school floated a plan to create housing for teachers. Then Penrose-St. Francis Health Services studied the property for a possible employee parking lot.

Now, John Rodgers of Peak Commercial Properties has offered $875,000 in a bid approved by the school board in February. Before he closes the deal, he wants the city to rezone it from residential to “planned use development,” which would allow him great freedom to redevelop it.

But Rodgers was vague Monday about potential tenants for the building, if rezoning is approved.

“We are talking to a dance studio that wants to rent space, and a gymnasium that wants to rent space and a brewery that wants to rent space,” Rodgers said after an hour of combative debate among residents and project architect John Olson.

Most neighbors were frustrated by the lack of specifics about tenants and building usage.

“It scares me,” one woman told the group. “You want to start with one thing but we may end up with something much different.”

Many seemed glad that Rodgers’ proposed rezoning would eliminate marijuana-related business, manufacturing, car repair and group homes. But they objected when the only commitment Rodgers would make was to convert the building to a long-term document storage facility.

How, some asked, can they judge potential impacts such as traffic, parking, noise and congestion?

Rodgers insisted he told them all he could.

“They won’t come close to signing a deal until the zoning is in place,” he said of his prospective tenants.

Some in the audience urged neighbors to take a chance.

“We don’t want this building to stay vacant,” one man said. “Or we’re going to see weeds growing, broken windows and graffiti. If something doesn’t happen with this building, something bad is going to happen to us.”

Lynda Kimes, a 46-year Roswell resident whose two kids attended Lincoln, left the meeting not terribly enthused but willing to consider Rodgers’ proposal.

“I don’t want to see it deteriorate,” she said. “Document storage might not be so bad.”

But Steve Tuck, the city planner on the project who organized the neighborhood meeting, said the message from neighbors was pretty clear: “There just weren’t enough specifics for the neighbors,” he said. “They picked up on the lack of vision.”

Tuck said he expects more specifics when Rodgers makes a formal rezoning request.

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John Rodgers of Peak Commercial Properties, said he has a tenant interested in leasing the gymnasium in the former Lincoln Elementary School on North Cascade Avenue, as seen on April 27, 2015. Rodgers described plans for the three-acre property if he buys it from Colorado Springs School District 11. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

Bill Vogrin – Side Streets

The layout of the former Lincoln Elementary School and its three-acre parcel are seen in a plan submitted to Colorado Springs city planning in support of a possible rezoning request. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

The layout of the former Lincoln Elementary School with individual document storage units in former classrooms is seen in a plan submitted to Colorado Springs city planning in support of a possible rezoning request. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

About 50 people filled the auditorium of the former Lincoln Elementary School on North Cascade Avenue on April 27, 2015, to listen as landscape architect John Olson, standing, described plans for the three-acre property if his client, John Rodgers of Peak Commercial Properties, buys it from Colorado Springs School District 11. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

The kindergarten classroom door is seen inside former Lincoln Elementary School on North Cascade Avenue. John Rodgers of Peak Commercial Properties, has proposed buying it from Colorado Springs School District 11 and using it for document storage and possibly other uses. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette