Miller Valentine Group, the company overseeing the demolition of the uptown Wendy's building, began tearing down the structure Wednesday afternoon. The construction group expects to clear the site by Oct. 14.
There is no more tarp covering the former Wendy's restaurant at the corner of High and Main streets. All that remains is rubble and memories.
Demolition of the building began Wednesday afternoon and is expected to be completed by early next week, according to Matt Rodbro, president of Red Brick Property Management, Inc. and the property's manager.
"Because of the nature of the demolition and its proximity to other buildings, it will take three to four days to complete," Rodbro said.
According to Brian Lacon, project manager overseeing the project from Miller Valentine Group, demolition of the building was completed Thursday. Plans are to clear rubble from the site by Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Buck Rumpke, who owns the property with business partner Christopher Rodbro, was on-site for the demolition and said things are progressing as planned.
"It's a huge weight off our shoulders," Rumpke said. "I'm very happy to clear the site and start something new. We're very sorry for any inconvenience it has put on the students at Miami (University) or the citizens of Oxford."
Rumpke said the developers plan to start building as soon as they have a permit from the city.
Miami senior Olivia Otten was excited to hear about Wendy's long overdue demolition.
"It was a terrible eyesore to the entire uptown area, and I'm glad it's being put to good use," she said.
Progress on the site, which has been vacant since a 2005 fire burned down part of the Wendy's infrastructure, was stalled for several years due to insurance and legal issues, according to Oxford Mayor Prue Dana.
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Now, the lot will be replaced with a $4 million residential and commercial space built by project developers Main and High Development LLC and Red Brick Property Management. Oxford City Council approved the building plan in early September.
"The building will be a mixed-use structure that will have residential housing on the upper floors and restaurant and retail space on the first floor," Rodbro said. "The building will also have a sizeable outdoor seating area that will work in harmony with the uptown parks."
According to Rodbro, all the residential units have been rented for next year.
Dana said she's thrilled to see the demolition and construction underway after three stagnant years.
"That is probably the most influential corner of the city and it's a prime location," Dana said. "Just to see (part of the building) not there is pretty amazing."
She said the building looked cavern-like after the demolition began Wednesday, which was drastically different from its presence during the years since the fire.
"The odd part of it was that (the Wendy's) was left exactly like it was after the fire with the salt shakers still on the table," she said. "Today, the tarp was gone and it was just dark as a cavern, almost torn-open looking."
Although he's glad something is being done with what he calls prime real estate space, senior Justin Reece said he doesn't think any residential spaces should be built in Oxford right now.
"The new rule (that makes) sophomores live on-campus (may decrease the number of) people that were living off-campus before," he said. "(Building more apartments would) make housing prices drop due to lower demand. Why purposely increase supply even more?"
Likewise, senior Joliana Yee Hui Joo said she wished something else would be built instead of residential space.
"I'm glad they're finally doing something with the space, but I wish it would be something else that would service students better instead an expensive apartment complex that is targeted to certain students," she said.
Dana, however, said the new commercial and residential space has the potential to attract other developments, create new jobs and boost the city's economy.
"We know that students like to live uptown, so we know that's going to be a dense area, but we also want to see shops," Dana said. "The more people that live uptown, I'm hoping some little grocery store will go up there besides UDF."
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