Eyesore to empty: Taco Bell is gone

For the last 12 years, a Taco Bell building has sat vacant on the Black Horse Pike in Turnersville.

On the morning of August 11, the building was demolished. A Take 5 Oil – a popular oil change chain – will take over the site. 

“I ran six years ago, and the first thing I talked about was the buildings,” Mayor Anthony DellaPia said that morning. “To finally get here, it’s like, ‘alright, we’re finally here. Okay, another building down, another new one coming up.’ And then we can continue to the next one.”

The old Taco Bell sat beside the vacant Denny’s building. While there are no set timelines for the Denny’s, yet, the township said its demolition is in the works, and it is one of the next projects. 

“If we knock down (the Denny’s) now, they’ll lose their traffic count, so we’re not doing it until we have an end user, which we will have pretty soon,” councilman Peter Del Borrello III said. 

“We’re working tirelessly on getting somebody for that. We’re happy (Taco Bell) is coming down, (Denny’s) will be our next one, and we’ll just (move) down the Black Horse Pike,” he continued. “We have other things we’re gonna do, so we’re just pretty excited.”

The event brought great excitement to the community, garnering tons of attraction online before and after it was knocked down. Del Borrello posted about it online days before, promoting the demolition as a community event. Through this promotion, a few dozen individuals came out to the old chain parking lot to watch it be demolished. Many drivers watched and honked from the Pike, as well. 

The township worked with local contractor Mark Franchi Demolition on the project. The team was set up and preparing for the demolition by 9 a.m. 

While it has been out of service for 12 years, the building and interior still looked like an older, classic Taco Bell: Arched windows, rigged tile roofing, retro booths and chairs with light pink, red and mint green accents. Town officials walked inside before the action. 

Before any of the construction equipment was used to knock the building down, Mayor Anthony DellaPia and councilmen Del Borrello and Joe Harris took turns hitting the front of the building with sledgehammers. Harris and his young son, Luke, showed up to the event with their own sledgehammers, and Luke and another boy had the opportunity to throw rocks at the windows prior to the demolition, as well. 

“There’s a certain sadness that you have when something (is torn) down, especially because I grew up in Whitman Square right behind here,” Harris said. “I can’t tell you how many tacos and burritos I ate here. But it’s not Taco Bell anymore; it’s a vacant eyesore, and it’s been a long road to help grow and negotiate what’s going on here. So it’s very rewarding, too.”

The demolition officially began at 9:15 a.m. DellaPia operated the excavator (he is a general contractor outside of being the mayor) and took the first hits at the building. A few minutes later, a team member from Mark Franchi Demolition took over. 

People – including kids and toddlers – watched with enthusiasm throughout the entire demolition, which only took about 20 minutes. The last standing wall of the building was knocked down at 9:36 a.m.  

Now, the entire site is empty and prepared for the Take 5 construction to begin.

The day of the demolition, the Washington Township Sun posted a short video of the event to Facebook. The video quickly brought in hundreds of views, likes and comments. Many comments were in support of the “eyesore” being torn down, however, several comments expressed concern or negativity towards the decision to fill the space with an oil change chain.

Some think a new restaurant or Wawa would be a better fit for the space (with the addition of the Denny’s space when it is torn down). Others noted that there are other several other car maintenance establishments down this portion of the Black Horse Pike, and they suggest dissatisfaction with the new Take 5.

 More updates on the Take 5 and vacant Denny’s to come.

“Destruction reaps creation,” Harris said. “This is going down, we have a Take 5 going in here. Hopefully something really good is going to Denny’s soon.”