In less than an hour, a building some say was the symbolic soul of Fry Street became a pile of rubble early Tuesday morning.

DRC/Gary Payne

An excavator demolishes the front part of Mr. Chopsticks in the morning on Fry Street in Denton on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006. Patrons placed pictures and wrote farewell messages on the front of the building where the restaurant used to be located. The building is the first to be torn down to make way for new devlopement on the street

Overnight, small crowds sat on the con­crete steps in front of Mr. Chopsticks holding candles in a vigil to say goodbye to the former site of the restaurant, the first building to be torn down in the eclectic collegiate center bought earlier this year by a Houston-area developer.

“We had a lot of people just stop by to express their support and say goodbye,” said John Roads, a Denton resident who stayed the night in front of the eatery, one of two buildings emptied in recent months and targeted for demolition.

Just before daybreak, crews from Blue Ribbon Industries of Dallas pulled in to begin demolition. The equipment was the target of late-night vandals, who used red spray paint to write the word “Satan” on the back of the hydraulic excavator left overnight behind Mr. Chopsticks at 1120 W. Hickory St. The mechanical arm on the excavator was labeled the “arm of pain.”

At 7:50 a.m., as that mechanical arm took its first scoop into the building, Chris Sobray played taps on his trumpet, repeating the funereal song several times as boards snapped and glass popped.

“Every building that comes down, I’m going to be here,” said Sobray, a University of North Texas student who plays for the Green Brigade marching band.

Numchai “Chai” Tamprateep, owner of Mr. Chopsticks, walked to the back of the building to watch its demolition.

“This is it,” he said quietly as the building’s maroon-colored sides began to cave inward.

“I was so attached to the building,” he said. “It’s like your home being gone.”

Passers-by stopped to capture images of the demolition on digital cameras and cellphones.

At 8:30 a.m., the last front section was pulled down by equipment, a white-framed front door bearing the words “We love you Chai” at the forefront of the rubble.

The day before, construction crews had moved to tear down the inside walls of Mr. Chopsticks, preparing it for the early morning demolition. The former Uncommon Ground building, also slated for demolition, was to be torn down early next week. The coffee shop was formerly the site of the Argo where John Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon, performed a number of times, according to Raven Oak, organizer of Save Fry Street.

Both Mr. Chopsticks and Uncommon Ground have reopened in new locations in the neighborhood.

Residents, students and alumni have protested against the demolition and proposed changes to what many consider an eclectic part of the city’s core.

Project manager Tim Sandifer of United Equities Inc. said the company had no immediate plans for further demolition in the area. He said he expected to have an announcement on the fate of other Fry Street buildings in the next four to six weeks. 

United Equities officials decided to demolish the former Uncommon Ground building to accommodate the expansion of a nearby cellphone tower facility, Sandifer said.

They removed the former Mr. Chopsticks building to check for underground storage tanks, because the site once housed a gas station, Sandifer said. Environmental testing of the soil there found no evidence of contamination, he said. 

“We don’t know if the tanks are there or not,” he said. “We suspect they might be, and we just want to see the conditions that exist out there.”

Sandifer said it’s too early to reveal details of the development, including prospective tenants.

“We’re still moving forward with our plans, and we’re not in a position to make that announcement,” he said. “There are a lot of details that go into a project like this. We’re not holding anything back; we’re just wanting to announce it once we’re firmed up on our plans.”

On Tuesday morning, a crowd of former and current UNT students carried signs saying “Fry Street is Uncommon Ground” and “You can take our land, but you can’t demolish our Chopsticks.”

Nancy Viens, a Denton resident since 1982, walked up the block from her home nearby to participate with the group of protesters in front of Mr. Chopsticks. The 74-year-old said she opted to live in Denton rather than in Richardson, which is closer to her family.

“I chose to live in Denton because it had a community feel,” she said. “But slowly, slowly, slowly, that’s beginning to go away.”

As the front section covered with handwritten goodbye notes fell at 8:27 a.m., tears welled in the eyes of several among the crowd of 30 standing nearby.

“It’s like losing a part of myself,” Ian Lesser said.

Staff writer Lowell Brown contributed to this report.

DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879. Her e-mail is dcobb@dentonrc.com .

Mr. Chopsticks

1120 W. Hickory St., Denton

August 1985 — November 2006

Much like eulogies commemorating the death of family and friends at a funeral, handwritten notes on the outer walls of Mr. Chopsticks commemorated the ending of an era on Fry Street. The following are among the sentiments scribed on the building in recent days, before it was torn down early Tuesday.

—Dawn Cobb

* “The buildings are not us. We will last long after the last brick is gone. We are the Fry Street community, neighbors, friends, family.” — JMR

* “Goodbye Fry Street — Our little piece of home.” — Caitlin Rodgers

* “Remember Fry Street, our second home.” — Unsigned

* “Fry Street don’t go.” — Johnny Perez, Subway dude

* “I’d rather this place be taken over by Starbucks than taken down.” — Unsigned

* “Goodbye to my home.” — 11-21-06 Jenifer Ortez

* “Every building dies. Not every building really lives.” — Unsigned

* “I wanna go where everybody knows my name … and they’re always glad I came.” — Unsigned (lyrics to the theme of the TV show Cheers)

* “R.I.P. Fry Street. I’ve eaten here for 20 years and am healthier for it. It ain’t over yet.” — Chuck

* “You can take our land, but you can’t demolish our Chopsticks.” — Raven Oak

* “Thanks for all the memories and wonton soup.” — Unsigned

* “We will miss you.” — Unsigned

* “Man this sucks.” — Unsigned

* “In memory of Mariana Francesca Villegas Singleton. 8/23/97–5/21/05. This was her favorite restaurant. I will always love you.” — Signed by Paul Singleton, uncle of Mariana, who was killed in a car collision on Interstate 635.