Jan. 6—HIGH POINT — Demolition work began this week on a long-vacant structure in a High Point historic district where a nonprofit is planning a new project.

D-Up, a youth fitness and education organization, owns the property at the southeast corner of Washington and N. Centennial streets and is having it cleared for future redevelopment.

The parcel, which has an official address of 500 Washington St., included 14,203 square feet of building space that had fallen into disrepair and been vacant for several years.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners last year authorized $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for D-Up, which is based on Washington Street, to expand its programming.

The organization is using part of this funding for demolition costs and related work at the site.

Its long-range plan for the property is to develop an education, gym and arts complex on it.

The property is within the city’s new Washington Street Local Historic Overlay District, which the City Council established in November.

It includes new rules that require approval from the city Historic Preservation Commission for demolitions within the district, but D-Up obtained a permit for its property before the additional regulations went into effect, according to David Fencl, a senior planner with the city.

The original portion of the 500 Washington St. building dates to 1912.

It was expanded several times, housed various stores and offices over the decades, and later served as a showroom for American Lighting, according to an architectural survey of Washington Street that the city commissioned as part of the process of establishing the new district.