Here's stinging, visual proof that the end is nigh for one of Atlanta's most storied music venues.

Demolition crews have moved in and begun the transformation of the Masquerade — a mid-sized, scruffy concert park that's operated in the 19th-Century former Excelsior Mill on North Avenue since 1989 — into a $60-million project called North + Line.

Officials recently told Atlanta magazine the first step will entail the demolition of non-historic structures on the 3.3-acre site (see below), followed by stabilization, site work, and construction of a new tri-level parking deck. That'll take about a year, allowing the Masquerade to continue hosting shows in its main building while plotting where it'll head next.

The medieval-looking mill will be rechristened "Mill Marketplace," and will house restaurants and retail; on the opposite end of the site, a planned eight-story building (including three stories of parking) will house about 230 apartments and a tavern. The goal is to wrap the whole thing in the spring of 2018.

Given the area's explosive post-recession growth, and the magical allure of the adjacent Beltline, the Masquerade's fate should come as no surprise, but sentimentality is to be expected when the walls start coming down ...