This and that: A demolition edition

Just a few quick hits on this Monday …

• Today’s edition is sponsored by Tippecanoe County CASA. A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a trained community volunteer who speaks up for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the Tippecanoe County court system. If you wish to become a CASA volunteer, please visit our website at tippecanoe.in.gov/CASA, email casa@tippecanoe.in.gov or call 765-423-9109 to apply and get details of the fall training schedule starting Oct. 3.    

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Just a couple of things on this Monday …

HOW IT STARTED, HOW IT’S GOING: A DOWNTOWN EDITION: In case you missed it, the scenery will be a bit different at Second and Columbia streets, as you drive from downtown toward Purdue and West Lafayette. Crews spent most of Sunday reducing the former Dunn and Hargitt building – once home to the Lafayette Leader newspaper and more over the past century – to rubble. The westbound bridge feeding from Columbia Street reopened Sunday evening.

Demolition of the four-story building clears the way the new construction portions of a $56.9 million redevelopment of the John Purdue Block along South Second Street, between Columbia and South streets. Plans from Indianapolis-based Third Street Ventures and Barrett & Stokely show a mixed-use project that will include a renovated John Purdue Block building – former home of Sgt. Preston’s of the North bar and restaurant – backed by a new, six-story complex that would include a mix of studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments, first-floor commercial space and two floors of parking.

Here were a few of the scenes from Second and Columbia streets this weekend, marking the progression:

For more on the project, including new renderings of what it will look like, here’s a way into an update from Saturday’s Based in Lafayette:

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DINING DIVAS AND DUDES: THE MAGIC OF MALATANG: Dining Divas and Dudes is a team that has been reporting and rating new restaurants, hidden gems, international fare and updated menus from old favorites for years now via Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette at homeofpurdue.com. Here at Based in Lafayette, we feature some of Dining Divas and Dudes’ latest finds.

Recently, they went to YGF Malatang, 110 S. Chauncey Ave., in West Lafayette, and tried the variation on Chinese street food evolved into the spot a few blocks from Purdue’s campus. The conclusion: “It was an amazing new world.”

• Check the full Dining Divas and Dudes post/review here: “Broth, Spice, and Everything Nice: The Magic of Malatang.”

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• Thanks, again, to today’s sponsor, Tippecanoe County CASA. For more information about CASA and how to become a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate, go to: tippecanoe.in.gov/CASA, email casa@tippecanoe.in.gov or call 765-423-9109 to apply and get details on the fall training schedule starting Oct. 3.    

Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.

Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.