By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó Dustin Wilson said the buildings at the corner of Fifth Street and Yadkin Avenue were still standing when he passed them at 10 a.m. Sunday.
But when Wilson returned at 3 that afternoon, the buildings were virtually demolished. “I was told that the bulk of the buildings came down in 45 minutes once they got the track hoe there,” said Wilson, Spencer’s land management director.
The buildings ó at 127 and 129 Fifth St. ó have been the object of much debate in recent months by Spencer aldermen. The dilapidated state of the buildings also forced the closing of the intersection of Fifth Street and Yadkin Avenue to motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic for about two months.
Earlier this month, aldermen discussed the buildings ó again ó and the slow pace of their dismantling.
Wilson said Larry Graves, the owner, was apparently dismantling the buildings’ facade slowly to preserve them. Once the facade was down, the track hoe leveled the walls.
Wilson didn’t know when the intersection will reopen, but said it shouldn’t take long.