Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett sat in the driver’s seat of an excavator on Tuesday and knocked off a large chunk of a concrete wall to kick off the city’s demolition of a vacant one-story building on East Commercial Street near the Lake Monroe waterfront.
The razing of the building, city officials said, is one of the first steps in Sanford’s efforts to spark development in its downtown district, a place known for its scenic waterfront and historic architecture but with little new development.
“Tearing down that building will get us started in redeveloping that property,” Triplett said.
“It’s a major piece of the puzzle.”