MARBLE CLIFF, Ohio (WCMH) – As a local utility company makes plans for a new electricity distribution plant to go up, another building must come down.

An AEP Ohio demolition crew got started Monday morning on tearing down a building to expand the company’s Marble Cliff substation. Armed with an excavator, the crew began with a corner of the building — located near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Riverside Drive — and worked through the outer wall, pulling more of the interior out with the machine. Another crew member sprayed water on the property with a hose as it began to fall apart.

Later in the process, the roof collapsed inward. The excavator pulled more of the debris out from the building before the crew stopped to take a break.

The demolition is part of AEP’s plan to upgrade and expand its electricity distribution plant, which is located directly behind the building being destroyed. The company said it needs to renovate the site to “meet the growing capacity needs of the area.”

“The Fifth Avenue substation is nearly 70 years old,” AEP wrote in a project outline. “The project will provide improved reliability in both the residential and commercial areas of Marble Cliff.”

After AEP’s crew set up a fence around the building, the group was set to begin tearing down the building on Thursday. However, the crew delayed starting the demolition to Monday. AEP projected its crew would take two days to completely bring the building down but would need four to six weeks to clean up the wreckage and remove the asphalt. The power company also said it would recycle anything from the building that can be used that way.

Once crews finish the clean-up sometime in mid-July, AEP said it will start installing new equipment for the power plant. The finished substation — expected to be up and running in winter 2023 — will then bring power to Marble Cliff, Grandview Heights, Upper Arlington and their surrounding areas.