Last night the iconic building on Wagga’s Edward Street was turned to rubble as a demolition crew moved in to make way for the $32 million redevelopment of the Murrumbidgee Flour Mill site.

As two lanes of the highway were shut down, dozens of spectators, including Wagga mayor Kerry Pascoe, gathered to watch as the crews worked to block the roadway with concrete barricades and reinforce the building’s front facade with steel containers.

By 8.30pm crews began their assault on the main building with the brick work buckling and crashing down under the pressure of cranes.

Due to the building’s proximity to the highway, restrictions were put in place by the Roads and Maritime Services, giving the demolition crew only a few hours to bring the building down.

Crews remained on site all night to break down the rubble, which will now be used as back fill across the site.

Mill redevelopment spokesman Luke Gooden said the developers are taking the project step-by-step, but this would be one of the first big changes residents would see at the site.

“It’s another step in the process of construction where people will begin to see improvements at the site,” Mr Gooden said.

“They (the demolition crew) had their work cut out for them, but I think they will handle it well.”

With the development application for the mill redevelopment approved, Mr Gooden said all the developers were waiting on was the issuing of the construction certificate to officially allow work to begin and the finalisation of construction tender documents.

Following a meeting with council yesterday, Mr Gooden said no indication had been given on when the certificate was likely to be issued.

The multimillion-dollar project will eventually see the mill site include 64 apartments, 12 townhouses, a supermarket, convention centre, retail stores, restaurant, wine bar, offices and 300 car spaces.