BERKELEY, Mo. — The City of Berkeley is about to look different, as the city's redevelopment plan gets into full swing.
Monday morning, demolition began on the old Berkeley City Hall building. City leaders claimed the demolition signifies a "pivotal moment" for Berkeley's urban landscape.
"It's a very exciting day to me and, it's been a long coming," Mayor Babatunde Deinbo said.
This is all a part of a "transformative journey," according to Deinbo, for the Airport Road Corridor, and the old city hall demolition marks the beginning of the changes.
"We're in a strategic position. We're close to 170, we're close to 270, we're very close to the airport so it's a lot of good things happening," he said.
The Airport Road Repavement is a $5.4 million project that is repairing the road from Interstate 170 to North Florissant Road.
According to Planning and Development Director Elliot Liebson, improvements will include new lanes, a bike lane, traffic signals, new sidewalks with wheelchair ramps and added parallel parking.
"We're looking at rezoning. We're doing a downtown plan. We're putting a lot of money into investing into the downtown area," he said.
When construction began for the project back in 2023, Berkeley residents told 5 On Your Side the upgrades were long overdue and would make a huge impact on safety and improve pride in their city.
Roughly 22,000 cars drive through Berkeley on Airport Road on a daily basis, and Liebson said it'll soon be home to new developments.
"It's just going to look completely different, totally revamped, focused on bringing people into Berkeley, excited to come here, shop here," he said.
City leaders said the building coming down will make way for new developments that will create jobs and strengthen infrastructure.
"We're excited about Berkeley, we believe in Berkeley and keep your eye on what's coming here," Liebson said.
The demolition ceremony was at 10 a.m. Monday on 6140 N. Hanley Road. The city has its new city hall up and running off Airport Road.
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