SANTA MARIA - Its the most visible sign yet that change is finally coming to the Santa Maria Town Center mall.
Demolition began Wednesday morning as part of a long-promised plan to build a multi-screen movie theater at the mall.
Heavy duty excavators wasted little time in breaking through a massive wall facing the corner of Broadway and Cook that some in the community were starting to wonder might be impenetrable.
The tearing down of a large portion of the old Gottschalks Department store is the first step in building the 14-screen, stadium-seating cineplex that some believe is the key to revitalizing the decades-old mall and making it a downtown destination.
Its also the first visible sign that the new, Texas-based owners of the Santa Maria Town Center are moving ahead with the long-stalled plans to breathe new life into the mall.
"I think it's the beginning of a new chapter", says Town Center Mall spokesperson Amber Lease, "its setting us off in a new direction."
A new direction loyal mall tenants have been waiting a long time to see.
"I'm really excited", says Cierra Guerrero of Daniel's Jewelers, "hopefully it will bring more business to the mall, bring more people in from out of the area, it will actually look like a mall with more people in it."
"More people walking in, people that can drop their kids off, they can do their shopping", adds Josef Holicky of Gina's Piece of Cake, "I think its a good look for the mall."
The new owners of the mall say the anticipated completion of the 14-screen cineplex is sometime next year.
Central Coast News has learned the Town Center is negotiating leases with nationally-known retailers and restaurants.
