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DEMOLITION DAY FOR VACANT TARGET BUILDING

-August 27, 2010

It's been years in the making...and this week the wrecking ball finally moved in to the old Target site on Coon Rapids boulevard.

For years the building sat vacant or had a mix of businesses. Now the building is being torn down...and a new ice arena will be built in its place...as part of the city's ongoing efforts to re-vitalize the area.

Demolition work started Monday. Many people came out to watch as the old store on Coon Rapids Boulevard came crumbling down.

Jon Tobisch, a Coon Rapids resident said "I remember going shopping here as a kid, coming, getting school supplies at the beginning of the school year."

Jim Trombley, another Coon Rapids resident reflected on the past. ""We always miss the Target moving up the road, but it's good to have something new going in and they need the new ice arena."

The old Target closed 12 years ago when the new store was built at Riverdale. The building struggled for years to find good tenants. Residents who live behind the old site, have waited years for this.

Bryan Olson, a Coon Rapids resident who lives behind the vacant building says, "It's good to see it go. It's been an eyesore for ten years so."

The city plans to build an ice arena as phase one of its long term community center plan. There's also room to build an outdoor ice rink. The new building project will re-use several of the materials...being torn up in the demolition.

Steve Gatlin, Public Services Director, says "On site they will be recycling the pavement and the concrete paving they'll actually be grinding it on-site and then stockpiling some of that material for reuse in the project."

This project is one part of the Coon Rapids Boulevard framework plan to revitalize the area...and attract more businesses. The Good Will store moved out of here at the end of June and into their new location, across the street.

Scott Schulte, City Council Member At Large says, "Hopefully that'll keep the energy up here on the boulevard and really drive some traffic near the new community center, beginnings of a community center, certainly the ice arena."

The construction of the ice arena should start around the second week of October. As some of the smaller buildings around the site get torn down, the city plans to do some temporary landscaping. The ice arena should be completed by September of next year.

Also this week on CTN News