SHREWSBURY - It's the end of an era in Shrewsbury where the former Spag's store building is in the process of being torn down.

Demolition began Monday morning on the iconic Route 9 business to make way for a new development.

The planned development Lakeway Commons includes 250 apartments, 13 townhouse units and a 80,000 square feet of retail space with shops like Whole Foods and restaurants like Tavern in the Square.

Started by Anthony "Spag" Borgatti, Spag's was a locally-owned discount department store that opened in the 1930s and cultivated a loyal following through the time it was sold to Building 19 in 2002. It was run briefly as Spag's 19 before the new company dumped the Spag's name and refitted the store as a Building 19 in 2004. Building 19 closed the Shrewsbury store as well as its other stores in 2013 when the company filed bankruptcy. Since its closure, the building was used as an antiques depot.

Now, the building is empty and fenced off as big rigs begin the process of tearing it down.

Onlookers stopped to watch the Shrewsbury landmark being torn down Monday.

"I came down hoping to get a commemorative brick or something," said lifelong Shrewsbury resident Tony DeMaria. DeMaria said he grew up coming to Spag's from his nearby Dewey Road home. "We used to get the rubber balls for fast pitch here for 23 cents."

Grossman Development Group, the company building Lakeway Commons, plans to demolish the several Spag's buildings on the existing site.