Photo gallery: The demolition of the former Thunderbird Motor Hotel and Dinner Theatre

The 18.7-acre site at 5865 Arlington Expressway is expected to be cleared and sodded within three months.

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The former Thunderbird Motor Hotel and Dinner Theatre along the Arlington Expressway east of Downtown Jacksonville is coming down.

“It’s been an eyesore for a long time. I can look back and say I’m the one who demolished this piece of history,” said Tony Zajni, owner of Jacksonville-based North Florida Waste Management & Demolition.

Zajni expects the 59-year-old structures and the 18.7-acre site at 5865 Arlington Expressway to be cleared and sodded within three months.

Since it was the Thunderbird, the property also served as a Ramada Inn Conference Center, among other uses.

It had been sold several times, including to Bethelite Inc., affiliated with Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. That sign still remains on the property along the expressway.

Here's a look at what the property looked like June 6 with photos by Karen Brune Mathis:

 

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