The tallest building on the 1100 block of Main and Market streets in downtown Wheeling is now a pile of rubble.

Crews demolished the Main Street side of the former Rite Aid building on Wednesday morning as part of an ongoing revitalization project.

The building was supposed to be taken down at 6 a.m., but a stubborn beam snarled the plan. Crews with Dore & Associates Contracting had planned to cut an I-beam and use a chain to pull it, then collapse the building.

The chain snapped twice, which is why it took 2 hours and 45 minutes to take the façade down. Also, because of the delay, Main Street was closed longer than expected. City crews had to reroute traffic onto Water Street along Heritage Port until crews were able to collapse that building and clean up the debris in the street.

Other buildings to be torn down on the 1100 block include the former River City Dance Studio, Dr. Manny Velez's Dental Offices, G.C. Murphy Co., the Graham Building and the Feet First Building.

The city of Wheeling purchased the buildings in 2008 and tried to find businesses to move in, but was unsuccessful.

Three buildings on the block will not be torn down: Panda Chinese Kitchen at 1133 Market St., Vocelli Pizza at 1127 Market St., and Howard's Diamond Center at 1125 Market St.

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