Coffee Break: Make Way for the New Alterra Cafe

With a rumble and a roar and a cloud of dust, Brian Bruckner of Great Lakes Excavating began the work Monday of knocking down the former medical building at 6745 W. Wells St.

It was a sound and a sight for which neighbors of the Hyde Park business district have been waiting 10 years.

The site will be occupied by . The Milwaukee-based coffee company hopes to build anew and be .

Bruckner attracted a small audience of neighborhood moms and kids to watch the beginning of the destruction – among them Nicole Kubicki with her 3-year-old son, Riley, because, she said, "Little boys love big machines."

And after it was under way, Riley confirmed that with his opinion:

"Wow, cool!"