One by one, a series of residents and community advocates connected to St. Paul’s Midway took a seat before the city’s legislative hearing officer on Tuesday morning to plead, in no uncertain terms, that City Hall order the demolition of what they described as the neighborhood’s most eyesore property — the shuttered CVS pharmacy store at Snelling and University avenues.

The building, erected between 2005 and 2007, has drawn loiterers, break-ins, litter and other signs of vagrancy and neglect since CVS permanently closed the location in April 2022. With a rooftop HVAC unit stripped bare by vandals and the exterior fenced and boarded, the site has become an unfortunate anchor to what was once one of St. Paul’s most prominent business corridors, said speaker after speaker, and a disincentive

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