(Des Moines, IA) -- Plans will move ahead quickly now that the Des Moines City Council has signed off on demolition of the old Kaleidoscope at the Hub mall in downtown.
It's considered a economic boon for the downtown area.
City Economic Development Coordinator Carrie Kruse says "It has been a saving grace for downtown throughout the pandemic having all these people that live downtown and have continued to support our existing retail and existing small businesses downtown."
According to Kruse, "It's super complex with all the skywalk bridges that connect into it too, so they're going to have to do some work to support those existing bridges. And it's a little bit more complicated of a demolition having being connected to all those surrounding properties."
Developers hope to tear the building down before winter.
She says they want to start disconnecting utilities as early as next week.
The old empty mall will be replaced by a 360-unit high-rise residential apartment building with some retail space on the first floor.
City Council approved the demolition plan at Monday night's meeting.
Construction could begin as early as this fall or possibly next spring.
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