Mercury Plaza is an institution. It has been keeping hungry Aucklanders fed since 1994, but it's time is quickly coming to an end.
The building itself is set to be demolished to make room for Karangahape Station, which is part of the $4.42 billion City Rail Link project by Auckland Council.
Stall owners have been given notice that the food court will officially close it's doors on October 31 of this year.
The iconic Auckland plaza has been home to an amusement arcade, an Asian supermarket and a Chinese hairdresser, plus many countless incredible food stalls.
A series of retro pin-ball machines and old arcade games still feature near the entrance, in various states of disrepair.
The only surviviing OG food stall is the beloved Chinese Cuisine, which shares the food court with another Chinese stall, two Japanese takeaways, plus a Thai and a Korean outlet.
Chinese Cuisine boasts the baddest (and by baddest we mean the best) wonton noodle soup in the city, with your selection of either BBQ or Roast Pork, Chicken or Duck.
A City Rail Link spokesman said it was aware that the building owners have been in discussions with each of the businesses affected.
"The discussions between tenants and their landlord are an important part of this process, and CRL is providing information and assistance in the process," he said.
Work on the Karangahape Station, which includes platforms and tunnels, is expected to start later this year.
The spokesman also gave the assurance that CRL would meet its obligations under the Public Works Act, which has a clause which means a business that must relocate should be compensated about $25,000 as a starting point.
Mercs is a favourite here in the Mai office, and we're gonna make sure to hit it up as much as possible before it closes.
Credit to the Herald's Lincol Tan for the story, and Dean Purcell for the thumbnail.
