The one-time home of Harvard Market, a 106-year-old campus institution, was demolished Monday to make room for new luxury apartments.
Walking by the building mid-demolition, University of Minnesota sophomore Ashley Chung said she was afraid some of the glass would fall over the construction railing onto pedestrians.
âÄúHonestly, it looks junkier than it did before,âÄù Chung said. âÄúHopefully they finish soon and it wonâÄôt look as bad.âÄù
Traffic on Washington Avenue was cut down to one lane to extend the sidewalk further out from the building as fallen debris appeared to collect in a pit inside the building.
Demolition will continue through Tuesday.
Harvard Market closed its doors in late January, leaving Stadium Village without a grocery store for the past three months.
When the new building opens in August 2012, a CVS pharmacy will replace the store.
âÄúI didnâÄôt realize how much IâÄôd miss it until after it was gone,âÄù Chung said. âÄúI realized IâÄôd probably have to go to CVS [in Dinkytown] and thatâÄôs kind of far for me.âÄù
Freshman Sarah Cloutier agreed, adding that the store closed a couple weeks after she moved to campus.
âÄúI have to go down to WalMart now instead of getting groceries here,âÄù Cloutier said. âÄúI was really sad when they shut it down.âÄù
The new complex, Stadium Village Flats, will be a six-story building âÄúcompetitiveâÄù with other new apartments on campus, Opus Development project manager Dave Menke previously told the Minnesota Daily.
With three similar apartment buildings under construction and a fourth in the planning stage, Cloutier said it doesnâÄôt seem like the campus needs any more apartments, considering Dinnaken Properties, where she currently lives, still has empty spaces.
Jim LaValle, who works for another developer on campus, Doran Companies, previously said a survey of the area showed a need for 2,000 more units. Even after all of the planned complexes are built in the next couple years, LaValle said the need will not be filled.
Developers are now looking into building more apartments in Marcy Holmes, Dinkytown Business Association President Skott Johnson said.
The neighborhood welcomed the idea, while area businesses are leery that they will be pushed out, he said.