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First photo: An excavator loads debris into a dumpster during demolition of three old buildings at the Kahului Shopping Center on Monday. The buildings had been unoccupied for years and were termite-ridden and in disrepair, said Darren Pai, spokesman for Alexander & Baldwin, which owns the property. Demolition began Monday and will take up to four weeks. Pai said there were are "no immediate plans" to do any type of redevelopment in the spot.
Second photo: The concrete and wooden remains of the old buildings, located between Ichiban Restaurant and the Asian Cuisine and Sushi Bar, await disposal. Businesses have come and gone at the shopping center, which opened in 1951 and was the first on Maui, featuring such stores at the A&B Super Market, Craft's Kahului Drug, Sears Roebuck and the Ben Franklin Store. Over the years, it's also been home to Port Town Delicatessen, Tasaka Guri Guri, Peggy & Johnny's, Philadelphia Lou's, Palms Travel, Noda Market and Ah Fook's Supermarket, which burned down in 2005.
Third photo: Crushed debris tumbles into a dumpster.
The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photos