photo by: Elvyn Jones

A crew starts tearing down the former Heritage Tractor store and shop at 1110 E. 23rd St. on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. Tim Deneke, vice president of the John Deere dealership, said the goal is to open a new store on the site next spring.

As a crew started demolishing the burned-out shell of Heritage Tractor on Wednesday, the manager of the John Deere dealership in Lawrence was already thinking about rebuilding on the eastern Lawrence site.

Tim Deneke, vice president of Heritage Tractor, 1110 E. 23rd St., said the dealership is now operating across the street at 1105 E. 23rd St. but has started working with an architect on a design for a new store and shop to replace those lost in the May 5 fire.

The initial plan is not to build on the footprint of the old building but along the west side of the property, Deneke said. That would allow for more parking. Moreover, the new building’s interior design will be more streamlined than the old building, which had numerous additions through the years.

Deneke said Heritage Tractor would like to have a ribbon cutting on the new building near May 1, 2019, but that will depend on how quickly the company gets the necessary city permits and on weather conditions during construction.

“We would like it open as soon as possible,” he said. “But we’re still early in the process. We just started talking to an architect.”

Agricultural implements account for about 40 percent of the dealership’s business, with mowers and tractors geared for urban customers accounting for about 60 percent, Deneke said.