West Broad Street should be open to westbound traffic by the end of next month, according to a consultant working on the Kress Building demolition project.
The street has been partially blocked since May.
"We are finished with about 95 percent of the above-ground demolition, and now we're cleaning debris out of the basement," project consultant Larry Snodgrass said. "We expect that will be complete in 10 days."
After the debris is removed, he and the project's architect and structural engineer will do another inspection of adjacent structures and the basement before filling the hole with dirt. It will then be covered with concrete and possibly turned into a parking area.
He said the project has a 140-day window for completion, and that window hasn't closed.
"We've had an unseasonably wet summer," he said. "Calendar-wise, we're probably a little beyond where we anticipated. But contractually we're still on schedule, which means at the end of the day it will be the second half of October, more than likely."
Demolition at 116 W. Broad St. began May 15. The Kress was originally built between two existing structures, which remain. It burned in 1933 and was rebuilt to house the Kress five-and-dime store, known for its architectural details that include distinctive terracotta tile.
The building was condemned in 1979. The Texas Historical Commission reviewed the property in April 2009 and discovered it was eligible for the historical register, but no action was taken. In May of that year, the city of Texarkana, Texas, accepted ownership of the building for demolition purposes. An engineering firm determined the building was unstable in October 2012.
In March, the City Council approved a $629,000 contract with Gator Industrial LLC of Joplin, Mo., for the demolition.
Snodgrass said the city made the right choice choosing Gator to do the work.
"We couldn't be more pleased with the contractor. We're using hand methods, which takes longer, but it's the safest way to go, and the results are the best for the overall product," he said. The contractor carefully removed the significant architectural details of the building, including the tile. Those pieces are being held by the city for a possible project in downtown, Snodgrass said.
"You couldn't have asked for more care or better procedures. At the end of the day, it's just been up there for 90 years, and it's weathered. We were able to successfully save nearly everything," he said.
Hand-removal is a long process, he said, adding that they have used heavy equipmen but not on certain parts of the building.
"We're not using that for any of the places where the buildings connect," he said. "You only get one chance with a wrecking ball, so they're taking it down brick by brick."
Some additional cosmetic work will be done to the buildings on either side, as they were freestanding before the store was constructed.
"They'll smooth the brick walls," Snodgrass said. "We're just going to return those walls as close as we can to their original state."