The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

A high-reach excavator operator prepares to take a bite out of the old Makena Beach & Golf Resort, formerly the Maui Prince Hotel, on Tuesday. The concrete structure fronting Maluaka Beach is being methodically brought down and turned into recyclables by a crew from Northwest Demolition & Dismantling. The hydraulic processor mounted on the excavator is used to chew and smash the walls into manageable bits. Once on the ground, the sections are crushed and separated into piles of iron, concrete, aluminum and steel for recycling. The Big Beach wing of the V-shaped hotel and the section fronting Maluaka Beach both have been leveled, leaving only the Kihei-facing wing for the demolition project’s end-of-year target for completion.