The old Westminster Mall continues to come tumbling down in phases to make way for future development.

A hub of retail, office, residential and entertainment uses is planned for the 105-acre site at the southeastern edge of the city.

American Demolition contractor Jake Olivas said the teardown of the Montgomery Ward building, which began Nov. 7, should be complete by Thanksgiving.

“We’ll start on the north side where the food court used to be and work our way south,” said Olivas.

He said after Jan. 1, the Dillard’s building will go.

According to City Manager Brent McFall the businesses that will remain open during demolition are JC Penney, Sears, Olive Garden, Brunswick Zone, U.S. Bank and Dr. Lamont McMurtry’s dental office.

McFall said the demolition is moving along smoothly with materials being recycled. He estimated the cost for the demolition to be $600,000.

Olivas said he expected the percentage of recycled materials could be up to 90 percent, exceeding the original estimate of 80 percent to 85 percent.

“We asked the contractor to recycle as much as possible. It’s part of the contract,” said city councilor Bob Briggs.

McFall said recycling materials during demolition reduced the cost of the job.

“The demolition contactor is able to recycle materials such as steel and sell the materials for a good price and the city and the Westminster Economic Development Authority get the benefit of that cost recovery,” McFall said.

Olivas said the recycling process requires a little more equipment and machine time, with extra time to separate the recyclable material from debris.

“But it saves money in other areas, like the disposal fees at the landfill and trucking to the landfill. In the end it balances out,” Olivas said.

Materials such as copper are removed before any heavy equipment rolls in, followed by separation of materials. Concrete is the biggest component that gets recycled, as well as metal.

McFall said the city is in negotiations with a nationally prominent developer for the site bordered by 92nd Avenue and 88th Avenue on the north and south and North Harlan Street and Sheridan Boulevard on the west and east sides respectively.

“If we successfully conclude these negotiations, then that developer will serve as the master developer for the site,” McFall said.

He expected an exclusive negotiating agreement to be finalized by early next year followed by a development agreement to be concluded in 2013.

Karen Groves: 303-954-2303 or kgroves@denverpost.com.

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