Gallery: Mark III building demolition

The Art of Destruction A &A Trucking and Excavating equipment tears out the the office portion of the old Mark III conversion van plant in Ocala, Florida on Tuesday July 20, 2021. After Mark III closed in 2001, it sat silent until 2006 when the property was broken up and sold. The original offices and other Mark III buildings sat derelict and became an eye sore along I-75. All the windows were broken out by vandals and the walls covered with graffiti. During the height of conversion van popularity in the 1980Õs and 90Õs the plant employed over 1600 people and coverted thousands of vans a week. [Alan Youngblood/Special to Ocala Style]

The Art of Destruction A &A Trucking and Excavating was demolishing the office portion of the former Mark III conversion van plant in Ocala on Tuesday. The plant closed in 2001. During the height of the popularity of conversion vans in the 1980s and 90s, the plant employed more than 1,600 people. The work is related to the planned use of the property for the cultivation, processing and distribution of medical marijuana. Green Thumb Industries (GTI), a Chicago-based company, is behind the project.