A landmark along Highway 41 near Kaukauna is about to disappear. Wednesday morning, construction equipment will start to arrive at the vacant dog track to tear it down.

There won't be any explosions, but the dog track is about to fall, just one piece at a time.

"It's going to be more of a disassembly than it is a demolition, as the demolition person is going to be recycling 90 percent or more of the building," Bob Jakel of the City of Kaukauna said.

Whatever can be salvaged will be sold off, even if on the Internet on sites like eBay. Only a small percentage of the building will actually end up in a landfill.

"It's going to save the landfill a considerable amount of space. It's going to provide some much needed building material for people down south and other parts of the country. For the city itself, it's going to give us a marketable site," Jakel said.

It's been almost 16 years since the old dog track had a tenant on a regular basis. The city says the demolition is the first step of some rather ambitious plans. After demolition, construction on a new piece of property could start by spring.

"I think it's important to us that it gets developed, that we get it on the tax rolls, and we get it to be a productive piece of property again," said Lee Meyerhofer, president of the city council.

Right now the city has interest from a California-based developer, which hopes to break ground some time in May.

"We will see a mix of retail and commercial space. It will be offices, it will be some retail. I'm sure we will see a restaurant and other type uses as well," said Jakel, changing the landscape along Highway 41 in a big way.

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