Brookdale Center still has purpose

The fate is sealed for the bulk of Brookdale Center, but there's still some life in the old mall, closed for a year and destined to be redeveloped as a Wal-Mart-anchored retail center.

Last month, the Brooklyn Center City Council approved the final design and funding proposals, and new development is poised to begin. First, though, the 760,000-square-foot space has a final role to play.

On Saturday, part of the former Macy's store was used as a staging area for volunteers who stepped up to help clear north Minneapolis tornado debris. The inside of the gutted store was used for registration, and the parking lot provided spaces for 2,000 volunteers who were shuttled to work stations.

Brooklyn Center police and fire officials are working on plans to use part of the mall area, during the earliest stages of demolition, for training and drills. They will work around demolition and the needs of the Sears store, which will remain open through the whole transition, as it has since the other stores in the mall closed.

It's a rare chance for public safety personnel to use a large building and not worry about damaging merchandise and dinging walls, said Brooklyn Center fire training officer Joe Faust.

Members of the Fire Department, along with the departments from several surrounding cities, hope to do large-scale training, including maneuvering the kind of 800-foot unfurled and full hose they'd need to put out a fire in such a large building. They also hope to do an exercise using the scenario of stranded employees and an incapacitated firefighter.

On the police side, the mall could function as a training ground for the city's SWAT team, said Brooklyn Center Police Cmdr. Tony Gruenig. Officers can practice moving through areas as a team, demolishing doors, again not the kind of practice the department can often get in public places.

Meanwhile, St. Michael-based Rachel Contracting is advising the developer, Gatlin Development Co., on the demolition process.

The whole demolition could take 10 to 12 weeks, said Rich Kauffman, Gatlin senior project developer. The company's preference would be for the police and fire training details to take place as early in that process as possible.

But he said Gatlin wants to make the training possible, saying it supports an idea that will benefit and educate firefighters and police.

"The city has been terrific to work with and been very much involved in helping push the project along," Kauffman said.

Much of the existing mall could see life elsewhere. The project goal is to recycle or reuse 85 percent of the current mall, on this site and elsewhere, said consultant Don Ritsen.

Functioning mechanical equipment, such as electrical components, chillers and boilers, also will be set aside for resale, possibly to tenants of the new development.

"All of these components are still in good shape and will get reutilized," Kauffman said. He noted that the newest part of the mall is only 10 years old, and those components are still relatively new.

Plans still are on track for the earliest stages of demolition to start in June. Besides Sears, the nearby Kohl's store and Applebee's will remain open.