RENO, Nev. - Park Lane Mall, an aging shopping center on South Virginia Street, will meet the wrecking ball on Aug. 1, an official with the new owner said.
Peter Merlone, president of San Francisco-based M&H Realty Partners, said environmental work to remove asbestos and other materials will begin within weeks, and he expects demolition to be completed by the end of the summer.
``It doesn't take very long to take them down,'' Merlone said.
All of the stores with the exception of Gottschalks department store closed in January.
The only buildings that will not be demolished are Gottschalks, Colonial Bank, Klaich Animal Hospital and the Century Reno Park Lane 16 movie theater, all of which either own their own buildings or are under long-term leases.
Merlone said the company has not decided on a plan for the site.
``Our expectation is that sometime sooner rather than later we are going to be able to announce a plan,'' Merlone said. ``We are hanging around in the short run just because we have the luxury of waiting. But once we start the demolition work, we are not going to sit with an empty site forever.''
M&H, which is known for redeveloping rundown retail developments in Northern California, bought the 40-year-old Park Lane Mall in June from Santa Monica, Calif.-based Macerich Co.

Park Lane was built in 1967 as an open-air facility, and Macerich, known for its upscale malls in other cities, bought and covered it in 1977.