The Rainbow Foods on University Avenue in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood will close permanently at 4 p.m. Friday, making room for a new Major League Soccer stadium.

Demolition crews could begin scrapping Rainbow and other shops within a long section of the Midway Shopping Center by mid-November. Construction of Allianz Field, a professional soccer stadium off Snelling and University avenues, will require demolishing the current homes of Rainbow, Midway Pro Bowl, Walgreens and Home Choice, but it’s less clear whether there’s a future for the neighboring Midpointe Event Center and Dancer’s Studio.

Workers at the Midway Rainbow said many employees have been there 14 years or longer, though some have already found new employment at a nearby Cub Foods that is also owned by Eden Prairie-based Supervalu. An email to a Supervalu spokesman was not immediately returned Wednesday.

In a public statement posted to Facebook on Monday, MidPointe Event Center president and CEO Mary McHenry said that on Sept. 13, tenants of the Midway Shopping Center met with shopping center owner RK Midway’s principal Rick Birdoff and Bill McGuire, owner of the Minnesota United soccer team, as well as a representative of Mortenson Construction. Related Articles West Side pedestrian bridge mural debuts 6 p.m. Monday

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McHenry’s post said: “It was specifically stated that our portion of the building would not be torn down for some time, if ever. (Birdoff) informed everyone that the redevelopment around the soccer stadium will begin along Snelling Avenue, assuring that it will likely affect our businesses positively.”

McHenry said that while construction creates challenges, “we are optimistic about the resulting stadium and the redevelopment surrounding it. Midpointe Event Center and Dancers Studio should look forward to having an updated parking lot surrounded by beautiful landscaping and gorgeous trees. As Dr. McGuire eloquently stated, they will attempt to ‘get rid of the ugly.’ ”

City officials have said that within the next 18 months, Big Top Liquors also would be forced to close or relocate its Midway location to make room for an extension of Shields Avenue.

She noted that the corner of St. Anthony and Pascal will remain closed for another week or two, and Mortenson will begin three or four days of work on the Dancer’s Studio parking lot Sept. 25, removing the center sidewalk to mill, patch, overlay and stripe. Mortenson Construction will close off the alley behind the shopping mall Nov. 1, and begin demolition at the wall along the Family Dollar store shortly after.

Construction of the privately funded, $200 million, 19,400-seat soccer stadium will continue through the winter. By fall of 2018, a new road called Central Avenue will lead to a new parking space at St. Anthony and Pascal. The stadium is expected to open by the spring of 2019.