One building down, 30 more to go in the process of clearing space to build a landmark development in downtown Fort Wayne.
We’re talking about the start of a major demolition job related to the Harrison Square project.
It took only a few hours to reduce the Belmont Beverage store across from the Grand Wayne Center to a pile of rubble.
A Martin Construction heavy equipment operator climbed in an excavator around 11 a-m, and started tearing the building down in large chunks.
That piece of land is where a new Courtyard by Marriott Hotel will be pushed up into the Fort Wayne skyline over the next couple of years.
Eight businesses and 23 homes must come down to make room for the much talked about baseball stadium development.
A young lady we found watching Thursday’s demolition was not impressed.
Andrea Waldren/Harrison Square opponent: "Fort Wayne Indiana is not too big, the buildings aren’t too big, it's not a big city. They're trying to become a big city, but it's not really. They're bringing too much business to small Fort Wayne, is what I feel."
Sam Talarico/(R) City Council at Large: "It's a great feeling to see this project started, I mean, this project is going to be great for downtown, great for Fort Wayne, great for our young people, and uh, it's just been a long time since Fort Wayne has had a victory like this on the development front."
Talarico said he feared anti-Harrison Square folks from the community would come out and try to block the demolition equipment, but none of that happened.
The target date for demolition of all 31 buildings is October first.
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