and a danger spot for children", even though the Municipal Art Commission argued it was atop the ruins of Blockhouse No. 4. After the City Planning Commission proposed another site several blocks to the east, neighborhood groups alleged the plan would further segregation since the mostly minority population of Harlem would be unable to reach the school. Other neighborhood groups opposed the use of Morningside Park for anything other than recreational use. The City Planning Commission's chairman recommended that the proposed school site at Morningside Park be disapproved, but in February 1964, the Board of Estimate approved the plan anyway and rezoned from parkland to educational use. Frederick G. Frost, Jr. & Associates designed the structure, known as 36 Margaret Douglas Elementary School, as a concrete-and-brick educational complex atop a stone base and rock outcroppings. The school was built between 1965 and 1966 and was the first in the city designed solely for early elementary grades, serving kindergarten through second grade. Cleanup and renovations Late 20th century Even by the 1960s, Morningside Park had a reputation for being unsafe and unsanitary. After the Columbia protests ended, Morningside Park was the site of several murders, muggings, and other crimes, furthering its notoriety. Litter lined the park, and it became a frequent homeless hangout. So common were crimes there that Morningside Heights residents nicknamed it "Muggingside Park". In 1971, after the controversy over the now-canceled Columbia site had subsided, NYC Parks published its "Proposed Rehabilitation of Columbia Gym Site", which called for a playground on the site's eastern edge and new paths on the western side. It was reported that Columbia had agreed to pay compensation for the demolition that had occurred in the park. This resulted in the formation of the West Harlem Coalition for Morningside Park. Advocates started focusing on Morningside Park and Olmsted's other parks in 1972, the 150th anniversary of his birth. The West Harlem Coalition hired Lawrence Halprin Associates in 1973, but plans for renovating Morningside Park were postponed after the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. Huxtable wrote in the Times, "Morningside Park may now be the city’s most crime-ridden, underutilized and dangerous spot." More than a decade after the Columbia gym plan was canceled, the construction fencing remained on the site. The state's department of parks was in talks with Bond, Ryder and Associates for a “redevelopment design” of Morningside Park by 1978 with the