Bob Mayfield, owner of McKay Bricker Gallery and Framing, watches as an Eslich Wrecking Co. crew tears down his shop at the corner of Crain Avenue and North Mantua Street Monday morning. Tessa Bargainnier | Daily Kent Stater

Credit: DKS Editors

The first building, which once housed McKay Bricker Gallery and Framing, was demolished yesterday to make way for the new Fairchild Avenue Bridge.

Gallery owner Bob Mayfield watched as an Eslich Wrecking Co. crew tore down his shop at the corner of Crain Avenue and North Mantua Street Monday morning.

“It’s a sad day,” he said. “This building served us well for 17 years. We lived upstairs for 10 of those years.”

Mayfield and his wife had to move out so the new Fairchild Bridge could be constructed.

Taking down these buildings are essential for the new bridge to be built, said Justin Chesnic, an Ohio Department of Transportation representative.

“There were several properties that needed to be acquired in that area,” he said. “There were approximately 10 properties that we had to purchase. They will essentially be demolished to build the new bridge, widening the road and some drainage (projects).”

The new bridge will extend from Fairchild Avenue to Water Street and eliminate the Crain Avenue and state Route 43 intersection, improving traffic flow and safety in the area.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012.

Buildings that will eventually be demolished are marked with orange spray paint. This is part of the Phase 1A construction for the Fairchild/Crain Avenue Bridge project.

More buildings will be torn down within the next couple of weeks. Some lanes might be closed from time to time due to drainage projects.

“It was time for us to move on,” Mayfield said. He said he is happy about the gallery’s new location at 141 E. Main St. and said the new construction is a good thing.

Contact photographer Tessa Bargainnier at [email protected] and public affairs reporter Carolyn Fertig at [email protected].