Demolition of Miracle Shopping Center to Begin by the End of October

Demolition of the 9th Street and Palm Avenue shopping center will begin Oct. 26, a notice sent out Tuesday by the city said.

Buildings in the 700 block of Palm Avenue will be demolished Oct. 26 and buildings in the 800 block of Palm Avenue will be demolished Nov. 14.

Operations will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The old shopping center will be torn down to make way for a new center which so far has commitments from Fresh & Easy, Panda Express and Starbucks to open stores, said Imperial Beach Redevelopment Agency Coordinator Jerry Selby.

Trucks hauling away remnants of the old building on 8th and Delaware Streets and Palm Avenue and 9th Street could disrupt traffic, said Public Works inspector Larry Martin, but no street closures have been planned.

The Miracle Shopping Center was first opened to the public in 1949. Businesses began to relocate after the city purchased the property in 2009 but the final store closed its doors in July of this year.

A contract to demolish the building was awarded at a Sept. 7 City Council meeting to Patriot General Engineering, whose offices are based in La Mesa. The demolition will cost about $412,000.