As the original completion deadline nears, officials said on Tuesday that there will be a delay in demolishing a block in downtown Wheeling.

The 100 block of Main and Market streets was slated to be down by next week. City Manager Robert Herron said while no official completion date has been set, the buildings are expected to be completely torn down by November.

Until then, contractors continue shredding old structures. Herron said the demolition has been "so far, so good."

"The contractor has done a very good job. We've been very pleased, but we'll be glad when the project is complete so we can move on to the next phase, which is to develop the site," Herron said.

On Tuesday, dump trucks were bringing in loads of rock and dirt to fill in and level the land. The remaining facades on Main Street are expected to come down in the next couple of weeks, which Herron said would probably be done on a Sunday when there's less traffic.

He said issues have been minimal with the project, other than when the 7-story former Rite Aid building came down and a bit of debris went into an adjacent parking lot.

Herron said some funding is available temporarily to develop the site, whether it's for parking or used as a green space.

"The long term use of that property is to develop it into buildings, but we are going to make it attractive while we're marketing the site," Herron said.

The city purchased the buildings in 2008 and said the demolition will open opportunities for future development in downtown.

The demolition is being done by Dore & Associates Contracting out of Bay City, Mich., at a cost of $693,000.

The project includes demolition of the G.C. Murphy Building, Graham Building, River City Dance Studio, Dr. Manny Velez Dental Office, Feet First Building and Rite Aid.  Three buildings will remain standing: Panda Chinese, Vocelli Pizza and Howards Diamond Center.

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