A construction shovel tears away at the roof of 212 St. Main St. Thursday morning as work began on the Mooney’s Corner project. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

It took barely an hour Thursday morning for a demolition crew to bring down the walls and roof at 212 S. Main St., next to Town Hall, where a developer plans an office building called Mooney’s Corner.

Jim Jones of Heard Ratzlaff construction recorded the scene as demolition began. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

A crowd of town employees, office workers and other onlookers  watched a yellow construction shovel chomp away at the building shortly after 9 a.m. Within an hour, most of the building’s frame was reduced to rubble.

Developer Brad Remmey plans a $2.7 million, 4-story building on the site, which would become the new home of J.J. Wade and Associates. Wade is currently in a historic building next door. Many of the firm’s employees were out watching the demolition Thursday.

Heard Ratzlaff/HR Construction of Charlotte is the general contractor. Superintendent Jim Jones said Thursday the demolition would largely completed in a day or two, and workers would begin constructing the new office building soon.

The one-story building had been vacant for months. Built in 1955 to house the Davidson public library, in recent years it had been offices for a builder and a medical practice, among others.

Mooney’s Corner, named for a hardware store that once occupied the site, received all the necessary approvals from the Town Board and Design Review Board over the past few years. That included Design Review Board approval to demolish the existing building. Developer Brad Remmey also hired a tree service to save and protect an old oak just south of the building.

During construction, about half the parking lot at Town Hall will be closed. Mr. Remmey has said he hopes the project can be completed by February 2013.

Local architecture and planning firm The Lawrence Group designed the project and shepherded it through a variety of public meetings and workshops over the past few years. While town rules allow four stories on Main Street, some residents had expressed concern at the size.

So the architects incorporated a stepped design, with three stories up against the street, and four stories in the rear. It will be “perceived as shorter than the Stowe building, and at its highest point no taller than the Stowe building,” architect Dave Malushizky said last month.

RELATED COVERAGE

July 6, 2012, “Demolition and construction to begin on Mooney’s Corner.” – Includes an artist’s rendering of the planned building.

Employees from JJ Wade Associates and Town Hall watched from the Town Hall parking lot as the building came down (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)