Developers expect to completely demolish the old Hubble school within the next six weeks to clear the site for a Mariano's Fresh Market in Wheaton.
Developer Bradford Real Estate on Sept. 10 closed on the Hubble property at the corner of Roosevelt and Naperville roads in Wheaton, with plans to immediately begin asbestos removal in the building.
Bradford CFO Chad Jones wrote in an email Wednesday that crews have removed asbestos and started demolition of the western portion of the school building on Monday.
"We should be finished with the demolition of this small portion on Thursday or Friday of this week. We are still currently working on removing the asbestos from the rest of the building," Jones wrote.
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He said asbestos removal should be complete within four weeks, at which time Bradford will begin to demolish the rest of the building.
"We should have the entire building demolished within six weeks," he said.
He said Bradford will begin excavating and clearing the site in front of the school building mid-October.
Community Unit School District 200 last summer accepted the offer of $5,000,200 from developer Bradford Equities, LLC. Bradford plans to build a Mariano's Fresh Market on the site at the corner of Naperville and Roosevelt roads.
The Wheaton Park District partnered with the developer, and bought a portion of the property for $3 million to maintain the building's gym and outdoor recreation space. Bradford donated a parcel of open space for athletic fields to the park district. The two also swapped Bradford's open space at the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Road for the park district's Central Park property.
Jones said he expects Mariano's will open in October 2013.
