UPDATED

Former Bests’ Ace building demo nears end

Section of property will be used for new connector road from southbound Route 1

The final wall comes tumbling down Jan. 24 (Day 7) as demolition of the former Bests’ Ace Hardware building nears an end. Contractor John Macklin & Son of Milford was hired by DelDOT to do the work. The property was purchased by DelDOT to make way for road improvements. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS

Ron MacArthur

January 17, 2023

Demolition of the former Bests’ Ace Hardware store along Route 1 at Five Points by contractor John Macklin & Son of Milford began early Jan. 17. The building is being razed to make way for an upcoming Delaware Department of Transportation road improvement project scheduled to begin this spring along Plantation Road and the Beaver Dam-Route 9 intersection. A new connector road from the southbound lanes of Route 1 will be constructed through the property to connect to a new roundabout. The Best family first opened the store, which originally included a grocery store, 54 years ago.

The store closed Oct. 7 and moved to its new location around the corner on Route 9 at 32437 Lewes-Georgetown Highway.

The Best family has been operating a business in and around the Nassau and Five Points area for nearly 100 years. In 1932, Thomas Best Sr. built a grain-milling operation alongside the railroad that went through Nassau. The family moved the business to its current location in 1968. It became hardware only in 1993.

DelDOT purchased the Route 1 property in September 2019.

As the back wall is torn down, the Nassau School in Belltown is visible.

By Jan. 23 (Day 6), the entire front and facade of the former Bests’ Ace Hardware store has been demolished by a John Macklin & Son crew.

On Jan. 23, debris from the demolition is being loaded into roll-off dumpsters.

Only the back section of the building remains as the demolition project continues into its second week.

By day four (Jan. 20) of the demolition project by John Mackin & Son, not much remains of the former Bests’ Ace Hardware store near Five Points.

DAY 4. Sections of two walls and the front facade is all that remains of the former store, which opened in 1968.

DAY 4. The front facade of the building will be the last to come down.

DAY 4. The entire interior of the store has been gutted as the demolition project nears an end.

DAY 4. The former Bests’ store is being razed by DelDOT contractor John Macklin & Son of Milford.

DAY 3. The demolition crew is back at work taking apart the building early on Jan. 19.

DAY 3. The familiar Bests’ Ace storefront still remains early Jan. 19 as the demolition project continues.

DAY 2. It won’t take long to demolish the Ace Hardware building as work begins on the store section Jan. 18.

DAY 2. The large steel girders are piled up and will be recycled, as will other metal removed during the demolition.

DAY 2. Early on Jan. 18, the second day of demolition, a John Macklin & Son excavator rips off roof sections of the former Bests’ Ace Hardware store along Route 1 at Five Points near Lewes. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS

DAY 1. A John Macklin & Son crew is busy at work early Jan. 17 as the demolition of the Bests’ Ace building gets underway.

DAY 1. A demolition crew begins to tear down the garden center on the eastern side of the former Bests’ Ace Hardware store.

DAY 1. A Macklin & Son excavator grabs a large section of roof from the Bests’ Ace building.

DAY 1. By 2 p.m Jan. 17, the former Bests’ Ace Hardware garden center was nearly demolished, as a John Macklin & Son crew begins razing the building to make way for a new connector road from southbound Route 1 to the Plantation Road-Beaver Dam Road-Route 9 intersection.

DAY 2. After more than 50 years at its Route 1-Five Points location, Bests’ Ace Hardware is being torn down.

Former Bests’ Ace building demo nears end

Related Stories

Most Popular

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter

Most Popular

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter