Demolition has started at a former Casa Molina restaurant location in midtown Tucson.
But the popular bull-and-matador statue, known as El Toro, that sits in the former parking lot is safe from the wrecking effort.
Demolition that started Wednesday will raze the former restaurant at 6225 E. Speedway, just west of North Wilmot Road, the city permit for the work shows.
The statue in the parking lotwill be included in a future sale, along with the original Casa Molina restaurant sign, according to Atlantic Demolition Inc. Â
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The original Casa Molina restaurant located at 6225 E. Speedway Blvd. is being demolished, but the bullfighting scene in the parking lot will be spared.
A crew from Atlantic Demolition on Wednesday begins to tear down the original Casa Molina restaurant at 6225 E. Speedway.
The restaurant closed after a damaging grease fire in April 2022. Two years later, the owners announced the restaurant would not reopen.
Gilbert Molina opened the former Casa Molina location in 1947, and it became the genesis for several other locations across the city.
The bullfighting scene playing out on a concrete pedestal was added in the early 1960s.Â
