Coming down; Hy-Vee starts tearing down the outside of the mall
Published 11:49 am Friday, March 25, 2016
An excavator tears into the main entrance of Oak Park Mall Thursday afternoon. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Todd Hepler arrived outside Oak Park Mall Thursday and spoke the words that many in Austin have anticipated for several months, if not longer: “It’s coming down.”
Work to turn the former Oak Park Mall space into a new 60,000- to 90,000-square-foot Hy-Vee grocery store took a pivotal step forward when Hy-Vee Construction took down the old front entrance of what was once the food court.
“Obviously, today’s an exciting day,” Hepler said.
Outgoing Hy-Vee store manager Todd Hepler takes cell phone video as an excavator tears into the main Oak Park Mall entrance Thursday afternoon.
Hy-Vee acquired the mall last November with help from the city of Austin, the Austin Port Authority and a $3.65 million grant from The Hormel Foundation.
To Hepler, people have been waiting to see action at the mall site for many years. Along with many years of hundreds of thousands of dollars in delinquent taxes, the mall’s condition and the condition of the parking lot became a point of public contention.
Early mall demolition has already caught a lot of public interest, and Hepler said many customers were out taking video of the work.
“Everybody’s talking about it in the store,” he said of customers and employees.
In fact, many even commented to Hepler and online a few weeks ago when parts of a wall were taken down in order to remove materials from the building’s interior.
“It’s real positive right now,” Hepler said.
Asbestos removal and some work has already been completed inside, and officials say demolition should take four to six weeks.
Hy-Vee Construction is also working on some exterior walls for tenant spaces.
Hy-Vee will next submit site plans for the city to approve. A grand opening for the new store has not been scheduled.
However, the mall demolition is one of the last steps in the mall process for Hepler, who will leave Austin next month to manage the Cedar Falls, Iowa, store.
Major work began Thursday afternoon on the Oak Park Mall demolition.
He admitted seeing the walls come down was a bitter-sweet moment, but he’s happy to see work moving forward
Dan Goshorn, currently a Hy-Vee manager in Boone, Iowa, and a friend of Hepler’s, will take over the Austin store, and Hepler is excited to pass over the reins on the project.
“It’s kind of all coming together right now,” he said.
Hy-Vee customers can soon expect to see T-shirts to denote phases of the project. Phase 1 is for the demolition, then Phase 2 is construction and Phase 3 will be for when the new store is getting close to completion.
Hepler has previously said the store could open in 2017.
—Eric Johnson contributed to this report.
