Staff photo by Fritz Busch Fallen trees, building debris and heavy equipment are pictured Wednesday just south of George's Ballroom set to be demolished Dec. 2.

NEW ULM — Questions were few at a special New Ulm City Council meeting about the pending demolition of George’s Ballroom Wednesday.

Demolition is part of a redevelopment plan managed by Coldwell Banker Commercial (CBC) Fisher Group of Mankato. Plans are to create a new multi-dimensional residential building with commercial retail space.

Dain Fisher, executive managing director of Fisher Group of Mankato said the demolition project is scheduled to begin Monday, Dec. 2 and will continue for about three weeks.

“We’re happy to be here in New Ulm. We think it’s a great community, we love the market and think it’s a great opportunity. I’m glad to see people here. It shows people care about their community,” Fisher said.

He said after building demolition, construction plans and final design revisions from the architect, brief public engagement will be done before the final design is made.

Landwehr Construction Inc. Project Manager Aaron Wendlandt said parking will be temporarily closed off on both sides of the building, along German and Center Streets and in the alley during demolition.

“We’ll open it back up again when we feel safe enough to do that,” said Wendlandt.

“We’re treating it (demolition debris) as hazardous waste, working with the MPCA (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) and (Minnesota) Department of Health. We’ll use a machine that uses mist to knock down the dust. We plan to load trucks with as much material daily as we can. Truck loads will be sealed.”

He said after the building is down, the concrete will be tested for any hazardous waste remnants. If it’s clean, the concrete will be recycled locally. Other demolition material will be hauled to Demcon Landfill in Shakopee.

“We’ve done a lot of this work like this. We know what we’re doing,” said Wendlandt.

He said the ballroom condition does not allow people to go inside the test for asbestos, mold, PCBs and mercury.

Brennan Companies Senior Project Manager Brian Barnett said parts of the building planned to be saved include the large exterior George’s Ballroom sign.

The ballroom closed in 1991. Brown County acquired the property in 2004 through tax foreclosure. It was then sold at auction. A new owner re-opened it for a short time but the property was again deeded back to Brown County due to back taxes. Other building artifacts have already been removed.