A construction crew begins the demolition of the strip center at the site of the future home of Resource Center Dallas, 5714 Cedar Springs Road, on Saturday, April 28. More photos from the event below. (Anna Waugh/Dallas Voice)

The journey to a new Resource Center Dallas became a little shorter Saturday with the demolition of the strip center at the site of RCD’s future home near Cedar Springs and Inwood roads.

“Brunch & Bulldozers” brought music and food trucks to entertain the crowd throughout the three-hour event. Dozens of attendants paid $5 each for the chance to swing a sledge hammer at the brick building, denting the walls and even shattering some windows.

Roughly 300 people attended the event, RCD Capital Campaign Manager Mack Campbell said.

“This was the first public awareness event for the capital campaign,” Campbell said. “We had great participation from the community.”

While the amount raised on Saturday was still being calculated, Campbell put the figure at more than $10,000, which will be added to the $4 million already raised for the new $12 million building.

The demolition demonstration tuned dramatic music to the destruction in front of an anxious, cheering crowd. Only a portion of the building was demolished for the crowd’s enjoyment, and crews returned Monday to finish the work.

“The building should be a pile of rubble today,” Campbell said.

He added that it should take the construction crew about a week to sort through the rubble to find recyclable items and to clear the site completely.

In the coming months a sign that publicizes that the future home of RCD will be housed at the location will be placed in the empty 1.75-acre lot. Plans for fundraisers are in the works for the fall and winter, Campbell said, but nothing has been finalized yet. Contributions to the capital campaign can be made any time online here.

Overall, Campbell said Saturday’s turnout was a positive beginning to the future work before the new building’s construction in 2014.

“It was just a great feeling to have such a visual step to building a new LGBT resource center,” he said. “I’m just excited to see people in the community step up and get behind this project.”