(La Porte, IN) – Generations of people used to wake up to the smell of fresh bread and other goods from a once iconic neighborhood bakery.

 

The long vacant structure with young trees growing from the roof is being taken down in LaPorte.

 

Demolition of the old Tibma Bakery on Woodward St. began on Monday.

 

Mayor Tom Dermody said the abandoned building was tops on his list of what he wanted torn down as part of his commitment to clean up the city after taking office in January.

 

“It’s been standing for too long and we’re pretty excited about it,” he said.

 

Dermody said the building was not just an eyesore but a safety hazard for the trespassers occasionally venturing inside.

 

John Mills said the bakery had a store and the bread at 10 cents a loaf was still warm when he and his large family drove there on weekends to buy some while he was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s.

 

“That was about a fresh as you could get,” he said.

 

He also remembered seeing loaves of Tibma Bakery bread inside a yellow bag for sale in the supermarkets.

 

The bakery was long gone when 31-year old Arthur Wadsworth grew up just a block away.

 

He said the space was occupied by storage and other companies but remembers talk about the bakery when he was a child.

 

Wadsworth said he was surprised by the deplorable condition of the building when he moved back to the neighborhood a few years ago.

 

“Obviously, it needs to go but it’s a little piece of history in my life at least,” he said.

 

Josh Dejaegher living across from the old bakery the past 15-years has occasionally spotted people going inside and leaving with what appeared to be scrap metal and other materials.

 

Dejaegher, 36, said he could also see large holes in the flat roof from the window of his second floor apartment.

           

“It does need to come down,” he said.

 

Dermody said federal funding was used to pay for the $96,000 cost of demolition being done by Pavey Excavating.

 

He said the plan is to find a developer to build low to moderate income housing on the parcel covering about a city block.

 

“It’s definitely some space that can be used to our advantage,” Dermody.