For the nostalgic, if the walls of the old Soo Theatre could talk, they're sharing all the stories now as they come down in the middle of downtown Weyburn.

The official demolition began on the building on Monday, with the removal of the original sign. See photos HERE.

"That sign is a lot bigger than it looks. It's probably 16, 20 feet on the back end of the triangle there," said Ryan Janke with the Weyburn Theatre Community Service Cooperative.

"I will give a lot of credit to whoever built that theater in the 1940s, because it was really difficult to get down. They built it and they built it well."

Janke gave a big shout-out to Jeff Chessall with RONA Weyburn for helping take the sign away to storage for safekeeping until the cooperative can figure out with will happen with it.

"Our intention is to restore that sign and get it on display someplace. I mean, that's a piece of Weyburn history that we just could never let go of," he commented. "I don't know if it will be possible to incorporate it into the new theater or not. It was kind of built right into the building."

He said the idea of repurposing the sign could be challenging.

"But certainly we're never going to let it go and definitely looking into what we can do to restore and kind of get it back up to its former glory, because if anyone remembers what that thing looked like in its heyday, when it was all lit up and all the neon was on and the flashing light bulbs, I mean, it was a pretty amazing sight and I'd love to see it that way again in one way, shape or form. There's lots of good possibilities and we'll figure something out in a place where everyone can see it and it can be preserved for the future."

Janke reminds the businesses along Third Street are still open, and he apologized for any inconvenience the project may cause, but, "there's just no way around it."

"I want to remind everybody that a demolition site is even more dangerous than a construction site, so please stay clear of the area."

As for the bricks, they will be piled up once Adair's has gotten to the sorting part of the job.

"As far as salvaging bricks and stuff, don't worry about that right now," Janke said. "We are going to have the bricks someplace where people can grab one as a souvenir if they like. I wouldn't be able to speak to how many there are, but we're going to put those aside and make sure we're doing that. So don't feel there's any urgency to get a hold of the bricks right now."

He said the 75-year-old building is a piece of history, and it's a monumental event to see it come down and be replaced by something newer and better.

"It is worth taking a look at, not that I'm encouraging a whole pile of traffic to that area, but at the same time, some of the work they're doing and the precision work, just carefully knocking those bricks down without getting too close to the other buildings or the power lines behind, it's really impressive workmanship there," he shared. "I had no idea how complicated this process was going to be, and I'm kind of amazed by how intricate it is and how quickly it's going."

The nostalgic likely won't be able to stay away, and with all our coverage here on Discover Weyburn, even those far away will be able to follow the project.

"A lot of people have a lot of memories in that in that building. Whether it was going on your first date, going to your first movie, or sneaking in the back door, not that any of us ever did that," he joked. 

"Please don't feel like there's any urgency to salvage any of the bricks right now. There'll be an opportunity to do that at the end when it's safe." 

The south wall of the theatre actually comes doen in this video made by Mack Kohl. It shows some of today's progress, which was witnessed by a local homeschooling family and some friends.