A man operating an excavator punched holes Monday in the wall of the five-story Freeman Building, the one-time home of Startribune.com and numerous business functions of the state's largest newspaper. It's the beginning of the end for the 72,000-sq.ft. building at 329 Portland Av. S., which was among the properties sold by the newspaper to make way for construction of the new Vikings stadium and a related mixed-use development.

The newspaper's operations have already consolidated in 425 Portland Av. S., and sometime next year the offices will relocate to an office tower a few blocks away.