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Crews Start Tearing Down The Old Westminster Mall

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - It's been a fixture in the community for 33 years. On Saturday crews started tearing down the old Westminster Mall.

The mall was built in 1977, but now the area of 88th and Harlan will be turned into a new urban center with retail, office and residential space.

A crowd of well over 1,000 cheered as chunks of glass, bricks and metal tumbled to the ground.

The mall produced a whole generation of memories.

"My son, at probably age 5, coming into the courtyard area where they have the hot air balloons that would go up and down. He would just roll down the stairs and all the kids would play in that area," Kathy Stancec from Northglenn said.

"The mall opened when I was in high school," former mall worker Rob Snelling said. "We used to do some shows out of the mall here. Later I ended up apprenticing at one of the stores here; I ended up working here part time. So I've been a part of this mall for a very long time."

The city paid $22 million for the site. Several businesses on the site, including J.C. Penney, Sears, Olive Garden and the bowling alley are still open.

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