BERKELEY – Demolition day arrived at last for the Beachwood Shopping Center.
As he had long promised, Mayor Carmen A. Amato Jr. donned a hard hat and drove a backhoe to begin demolition of the Route 9 shopping center
’s rotted awning. In a spitting rain Tuesday, the mayor used the machine’s claw-like excavator to tear down pieces of the awning as a small crowd of onlookers applauded.
Township officials and media members looked on as pieces of rotted wood were ripped from the building and fell to the ground.
“The weather is not stopping us,” Amato said before climbing aboard the backhoe. “This is the culmination of a lot of hours of work. It’s a great day for Berkeley.”
The demolition started at the site of the old Wickery store.