Latest southern Colorado news, weather and sports from FOX21 News

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The former Ivywild Elementary, nearly 100 years old, is the new home of the latest mixed use community center.

Walking up to the 1915 one-story blond brick structure, adorned with wood floors, and a broken glass wall art, you get the feeling that time has stopped.

Besides the north and south wing additions made in 1950, not much has changed at Ivywild Elementary, that is until recently.

After sitting empty for three years, this former school house is full of life and activity.

Contractors and construction crews have spent the past month working on the grounds, electrical wiring, and making space for its new owners.

"When we moved into the Ivywild neighborhood in 1998 we were just focused on getting our businesses to the next level and profitable and being able to pay the building we were in," Mike Bristol, the owner of Bristol Brewery, said.

So, after 14 years at their Tejon Street location, Bristol Brewery, the Blue Star Restaurant, and local architect Jim Fennell are investing back into the community.

The trio of partners bought the vacant elementary school building for $1.2 million this past March and are turning the former focal point of Ivywild into the heart of revitalization project.

"It's unique to have an established landmark building in an old neighborhood and to have that sort of as your starting point, it's rare to have that opportunity," Jim Fennell, architect and owner of the Fennell Group, said.

Based on the architectural renderings, the school will be divided into three sections: the northend will hold the beer tanks and expanded tasting room, the southend will house the new bakery, coffee shop, and Fennell Group, and the center will be used for a learning annex.

The mixed use building is not only giving Bristol Brewery additional space, it'll be more labor efficient, with better water lines and upgraded brew house equipment.

The goal is to make the most of the cherished building, so the $4 million project will be the starting point of a larger community revamp.