A Camden landmark has started its disappearing act. Although actual demolition of the Sears Building isn’t expected until later this year, workers have begun removing parts of the long-vacant structure on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard.

A crew on Friday used heavy machinery to carefully remove a 1,000-pound slab that for decades carried the former’s store name above its main entrance. The building, constructed in 1927, was South Jersey’s first free-standing department store. But it’s now in the path of a redevelopment project overseen by Campbell Soup Co. which has its world headquarters nearby.

“We’re actually removing the front façade as we look at ways to commemorate the building’s role in Camden’s history,” Anthony Sanzio, a Campbell Soup spokesman, said Friday. “We are removing pieces and preserving them.”

Campbell Soup has not yet determined exactly how the pieces will be used, Sanzio said. A decision has not yet been made about the fate of the building’s imposing columns, he said.

via Beginning of the end for Sears building | Courier-Post | courierpostonline.com.