Watch The Wayne Hills Mall Get Torn Down

WAYNE, NJ —It's the end of an era. Demolition of the Wayne Hills Mall has begun.

A crew was at the mall Monday ripping apart what remains of it and placing the debris into piles behind a chain-link fence around the mall's perimeter.

The mall is being demolished as part of a massive redevelopment plan for the site.

"The long awaited redevelopment of the Wayne Hills Mall is a positive sign for the township and the Hamburg Turnpike corridor," said Mayor Chris Vergano. "Although the Wayne Hills Mall had many good memories for many of us, the redevelopment is another positive sign of the economic development that we have worked very hard to achieve and are now experiencing in Wayne Township."

A user with the YouTube account Ace's Adventures posted a long video of the inside of the mall.

The old mall is being torn down and a new 103,000-square-foot building will replace it. A 79,000-square-foot ShopRite grocery store will anchor the new building. Three more retailers will be in the space as well. Two other retail buildings will be constructed around the anchor building.

Crossroads Companies LLC, a Mahwah-based real estate development company, previously said the ShopRite is scheduled to open before Thanksgiving. (See related: Huge ShopRite At Wayne Hills Mall Site Set To Open Next Year)

The Planning Board approved a redevelopment plan for the Wayne Hills Mall site in February 2016. The main mall will be demolished, but Burlington Coat Factory, which is located in a separate building next to it, will remain. (See related: Wayne Hills Mall Redevelopment Plan Approved)

The mall opened in 1974 and was popular for more than 20 years. Attendance began declining in the 1990s and several retailers moved out one by one. Levco Associates purchased the Wayne Hills Mall property in 1993. The land and buildings had an assessed value of $18 million and Levco paid nearly $950,000 in property taxes last year.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: The outside of the Wayne Hills Mall; demolition of the long-abandoned mall is underway. (By Daniel Hubbard, Patch staff)