Though it stood as a Marquette fixture for decades, by Wednesday afternoon, half of Hegarty’s Pub, located at 1120 W. Wells St. across from the Al McGuire Center, was rubble. The lot will now be converted to green space.

Dakota Intertek Corp., a construction, environmental and technical services company hired by Marquette began deconstructing the pub Tuesday at 7 a.m.

Robert Borkenhagen, senior project manager, said the pub was out of code and posed safety hazards to people –mainly the homeless – who would enter the building.

“It would have cost millions to keep up,” Borkenhagen said.

He also said the building will hopefully be completely torn down by Friday, but it could be sooner depending on the weather.

However, another senior project manager, Thomas Marach, said the removal process, however, could take up to five weeks.

Destruction was not smooth. While tearing the building down, the company hit a cable line and Time Warner Cable crews had to repair it.

Although the construction company workers said the area will be converted to temporary green space, Kate Venne, director of university communication, said there are currently no specific plans in the works.

“Marquette carefully monitors property transactions in the campus area,” Venne said. “As properties within the campus master plan area become available, the university assesses their value and determines their importance to the campus environment.”