AUBURN – The first corner of Auburn’s old city building is already gone and the rest is expected to go this week, according Auburn Library Director Rosemary Waltos.

The building on the corner of Spring and School streets should be a memory by Friday, Waltos said.

“It won’t be a situation where the building explodes – nothing dramatic like that,” Waltos said. “They’ll just take it down, bit by bit.”

Crews from Chabot’s Demolition have already knocked down the southwestern corner because it was close to neighboring buildings. Crews have also started demolishing parts of the old library building.

“They said they did that by hand,” Waltos said. “They were more careful with that part than they will be with rest.”

The library took over the space in October when the city moved its offices to Auburn Hall. Plans call for razing the building and make room for a $7 million library expansion.

Crews have already started digging part of the foundation, Waltos said. Work will continue over the winter, and Waltos said the concrete for the foundation should be poured and the steel structure of the new library should be up by the spring.

The new library should be complete in spring 2006, she said.

Work planning the expansion began in 1998, with volunteers raising about half the money to pay for the expansion through donations and organizational grants. The city took on about $3.5 million in debt to pay for the rest of the work.

The expanded library will feature a larger children’s section and a separate area for young adult books, computer classrooms and community meeting rooms.