Ashton-under-Lyne's fixed outdoor market stalls have been dismantled, temporarily leaving behind large piles of rubble.
Since then the council has steadily bought up the flats to the point where it now owns about two thirds of the properties.The first phase of demolition will see the church, the school and 15 of the 45 tenement blocks taken down, 138 flats in total - but the plan is for them all to go eventually.
The former Clune Park Primary School is one of the oldest buildings on the site, founded in 1887 - the year of Queen Victoria's jubilee.Busts of Victoria and Prince Albert jut out from either side of the doorway, while higher on the wall is the Port Glasgow coat of arms, a three-masted sailing ship and the Latin motto "Ter Et Quater Anno Revisens Aequor Atlanticum Impune".It translates as "Three and four times a year revisiting the Atlantic with impunity" - a reference to the ships that once fetched huge logs from Canada, to be seasoned in the "timber ponds" of the Clyde before being used for shipbuilding.
The demolition contractors say they will try to preserve the best stonework features by removing them by hand.When the school closed in 2008, former pupils reminisced on social media about the grand staircase, the comforting smell of wooden floors and favourite teachers.
The building is B-listed - meaning it has regional importance.
Under the council's original regeneration plan, the frontage would have been retained and the site developed into an energy centre, providing low emission heating.The panel heard allegations Mr Davies referred to a colleague as "the sexy one" and that Supt Davies was overheard talking about the "shapely figures" of female staff.
On Tuesday, the officer accepted he "made inappropriate comments from time to time".Asked about allegations he compared female colleagues to luxury cars such as Rolls Royce, Supt Davies told the panel this was based on "quality and reliability", adding "I don't see a Rolls Royce car as something sexual".
On Monday, Supt Davies told the panel he wanted to be a police officer "from a young age", joining the force in 2002 and getting promoted to superintendent in 2019.He said he was "devastated" to be served misconduct papers in 2022, causing him to become "emotionally unstable" and leading to the breakdown of his marriage.