The Goldblock project, a commercial office space development that city officials hope will serve as the economic anchor of the Cyber District, took a giant step forward Wednesday as demolition of Jerry's Department Store and two adjacent buildings got under way.

The department store was a Munroe Street landmark for decades. Purchased by Oasis Development Co. of Lynn, it was slated for demolition to make way for a new retail building and parking

Oasis has been rehabilitating the floors above Pennyworth's department store and the former Belkin Stationary store, both on Munroe Street, converting former apartments and storage areas into commercial office space wired for high-speed Internet access.

Dignitaries gathered beneath a white tent on Oxford Street Wednesday to herald the wrecking crane's arrival and Oasis representatives announced the most recent successes related to the project.

Jeffrey Gibbons, Oasis chief financial officer, called the demolition "an important milestone in our Goldblock progress."

"The ongoing work is a joint venture between the city and the developers. Oasis plans to rebuild a significant portion of Munroe Street in three phases. Some offices above the former stationary store are nearing completion. New windows are in place and an elevator installed at the rear of the Pennyworth's store, known as the Tolman building. Additional renovations are planned for the Sherry Building, popularly referred to as the Goldberg Furniture building."

"Jerry's was sort of imploding on itself," said Stephen Harausz, the city's development director. "Once that lot is opened up, the space between the Goldberg store and what was once Lynn Hardware will be regarded and used temporarily for parking. Eventually, it will be the site of Oasis' new office building."

According to Harausz, the development company plans to complete the office renovations in the Belkin, Tolman and Sherry buildings before moving on to new construction at the Jerry's site.

"Oasis has been working on the interior of these buildings since last November, but nothing on the outside has changed. People can see there is activity going on, but now they'll start to see a significant change in the downtown landscape," Harausz said.

The development director said the demolition of Jerry's and two smaller structures marks the start of a new phase in the project. "They're taking one piece at a time and it is beginning to consolidate," he said, noting that the City Council earlier this year transferred from municipal ownership to Oasis the pocket park next to the Belkin building and the historic Tucker building, once home to Lynn Hardware.

"The transfers were done to make the deal come together," Harausz said, explaining that the pocket park at the corner of Munroe and Washington streets will include a walkway to provide a side entrance to the Belkin building. "It's a code requirement."

"Meanwhile, Oasis has applied for an estimated $1 million in additional loans from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that presumably would be used to fund the interior renovations," Harausz said. Oasis also received a $300,000 low-interest loan from the Lynn Municipal Finance Corp., which is part of the Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corp.

"Some very visual changes are going to take place on Munroe Street during the next month or two," Harausz said. "This is for real. It's not pie in the sky."

Gibbons said the end product will be first-class office space in the heart of the city's burgeoning Cyber District. "Goldblock offers tremendous value. This is first-class office space in a convenient location at comparatively inexpensive rates," he said. The retail and office building that purportedly will rise on the site of Jerry's department store has not been designed, Gibbons said.

Harausz said the project offers Lynn an opportunity "to reinvent itself."