The 8600 block of Kennedy Avenue in Highland has started to look noticeably smaller.
Demolition began Tuesday as workers for Actin Inc. of East Chicago took down the two buildings to the north of the Town Theatre, 8616 Kennedy Ave.
The theater building itself won’t come down until all the surrounding ones do, though, said Mick Lopez Sr., a project manager with Actin. That way, the company can bring in the bigger equipment needed for the theater, he said.
Its demoltion could happen Wednesday or Thursday, Lopez said.
Workers with Actin mapped out the plan and fenced off the demolition area Monday after several delays. Originally set for Dec. 12, bad weather and other project delays on Actin’s end pushed the theter demolition first to Jan. 3, then to Monday, Highland Redevelopment Director Kathy DeGuilio-Fox said.
The theater’s marquee and ticket booth will come down with the building, DeGuilio-Fox said. She said Actin representatives told her because the two items were “levered into the structure,” and the structure is in such disrepair, they couldn’t be salvaged.
Public Works employees removed the popular suits of armor and some of the artwork, DeGuilio-Fox said, and they’re being stored in one of the department’s garages. The town will also be able to salvage the theater’s projectors and find another use for them in town.
Michelle Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.