Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The view pictured above is from near Belk, in front of the former pick-up and drop-off door at Sears, looking east toward the former Proffitt’s men’s store and Rutgers Avenue. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday.
Demolition started at the former Sears store on Tuesday, July 26. It’s proceeded quickly from there to include the enclosed space next to Belk, which will remain in the redeveloped site, east toward Rutgers Avenue and the former Proffitt’s men’s store. Close to one half of the enclosed L-shaped mall space had been demolished as of Thursday, August 18. The demolished space also included the area in the mall that was most recently used as a conference center.
Workers are moving counterclockwise toward JCPenney, which will also remain and be part of the redeveloped site, known as Main Street Oak Ridge.
Demolition could be complete within 60 days, or about mid-October, said Environmental Abatement Inc., or EAI, the demolition and environmental contractor.
All metals are being recycled. EAI expects to recycle about 2,000 tons of scrap steel. It’s being baled at the mall site for steel mills. The metals include ones that can be shredded such as tin as well as heavy steel like plate and structural steel.
EAI will also crush about 12,000-15,000 cubic yards of concrete at the site, the company said. They expect to start removing concrete slabs starting next week.
Construction work is expected to start in October on a Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx in the area of the former Sears store.
Plans call for replacing the former mall with Main Street Oak Ridge, an open-air, 58-acre, $75 million mixed-use development that could include retailers, restaurants, residential units, and a hotel. Belk and JCPenney are part of Main Street Oak Ridge, and they remain open during demolition of the mall’s enclosed spaces and construction of new stores.
Besides Dick’s and T.J. Maxx, other new stores that have been announced as part of the 600,000-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment are Electronic Express, Maurice’s, PetSmart, Rack Room, Rue 21, and Ulta. New stores are expected to open in the spring of 2017.
There was a ceremonial groundbreaking for Main Street Oak Ridge on Wednesday, July 20. About 300 people attended.
RealtyLink, a developer based in Greenville, South Carolina, bought the mall property from Oak Ridge City Center LLC on June 30 for $6.3 million. The new owner is TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC, a company set up by RealtyLink.
The former mall site was also once home to the Downtown Shopping Center, which opened in 1955. You can see a few photos of that shopping center here.
Here is the second of two sets of photos from mall demolition work on Thursday, August 18.
All metals from the former Oak Ridge Mall, which is now being demolished, are being recycled. Environmental Abatement Inc., or EAI, the demolition and remediation contractor, expects to recycle about 2,000 tons of scrap steel. It’s being bailed at the mall site for steel mills. The work above is pictured on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
All metals from the former Oak Ridge Mall, which is now being demolished, are being recycled. Environmental Abatement Inc., or EAI, the demolition and remediation contractor, expects to recycle about 2,000 tons of scrap steel. It’s being bailed at the mall site for steel mills. The work above is pictured on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
All metals from the former Oak Ridge Mall, which is now being demolished, are being recycled. Environmental Abatement Inc., or EAI, the demolition and remediation contractor, expects to recycle about 2,000 tons of scrap steel. It’s being bailed at the mall site for steel mills. The work above is pictured on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The view pictured above is from near Belk, in front of the former pick-up and drop-off door at Sears, looking northeast toward Rutgers Avenue. The former Goody’s store and the current JCPenney store, which will remain, are in the left background. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The view pictured above is from near Belk, in front of the former pick-up and drop-off door at Sears, looking northeast toward Rutgers Avenue. The former Goody’s store and the current JCPenney store, which will remain, are off to the left of this picture. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The view pictured above is looking alongside the east side of Belk, from near the northern entrance in the parking lot between JCPenney and Cinemark Tinseltown. That entrance is to the right of this picture. Belk will remain and be part of the redeveloped site, known as Main Street Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The area of the former Proffitt’s men’s store is pictured above alongside Rutgers Avenue on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The area of the former Proffitt’s men’s store is pictured above alongside Rutgers Avenue on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The view pictured above is from near the entrance to the area of the mall that had been used as a conference center, at the northwest corner of Walmart and the east entrance to the former Sears store, where the auto shop was. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall is about 50 percent complete, a contractor said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. The view pictured above is from near the north side of Belk, in the parking lot between JCPenney and Cinemark Tinseltown, looking south toward South Illinois Avenue at the area where the former Sears store used to be. The west side of Walmart is visible at the left of the picture. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
See more photos here.
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Carol Donath says
Thank you, John. Good story about how they are disposing of so much debris. I would imagine it’s difficult to separate the metal from the concrete and wiring, but glad it’s not all going to a land fill.
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Carol. If I remember correctly, some material, maybe concrete, could be re-used in Wilson Street when it is rebuilt. I’ll try to double-check that.
If you’ve driven by the site, you may have seen various piles of rubble. I assume that’s to help with sorting.
Ray Evans says
The brick and block debris is going to a proposed city soccer field complex on Tuskegee Road to be used as fill material. The concrete slabs will be mechanically crushed then used as backfill material for underground utility construction associated with Main Street.
Charlie Jernigan says
Is the crushing mill on site yet?
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Ray.