The Eat'n Park restaurant that has been a staple on New Castle Road for 50 years was demolished early Tuesday morning. A brand new Eat'n Park was built right next door. The new location will open on May 5.

BUTLER TWP — About 30 employees, customers and former employees gathered in the Point Plaza Shopping Center on Tuesday morning to watch the demise of the Eat'n Park restaurant on New Castle Road.

Before opening as Eat'n Park 50 years ago, the building was an auto service center and Gatsby's Lounge, according to Dave Davenport of Butler Township, who met at the restaurant each morning to have breakfast with his contemporaries.

A gleaming new retro Eat'n Park next door will open May 5, said Becky McArdle, Eat'n Park spokeswoman.

The property where the old building was torn down will be paved and used for parking for the new restaurant.

Employees and onlookers screamed with delight when the bucket of a large excavator plunged into the drive-thru window on the west side of the building and gave a mighty yank, sending bricks, wood and glass crashing to the ground.

Amy Young, of Oakland Township, has worked at the old building for half its life as an Eat'n Park.

“It's sad because it was like home for 25 years, but I'm very optimistic about the future,” Young said. “They made the new building very efficient, so it will be a lot easier on us.”

The crowd at Point Plaza enjoyed doughnuts and coffee set up on the tailgate of a pickup truck as it waited for the excavator to arrive on Tuesday morning.

This is a breaking news report — read the full article in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.