PORT ORCHARD — A familiar Roman brick-fronted building with a long history on Bay Street fell to the work of a demolition crew Wednesday, signaling the first step taken toward a possible redevelopment of a portion of Port Orchard’s downtown.

The building sitting at the intersection of Bay and Frederick Avenue, at 639 Bay Street, once contained Jordan’s Western Wear for many years. Most recently, it housed Peninsula BevCo, a beer taproom for a short time until the building’s new owner, Jack Pauu, who also is affiliated with developer Sound West Group of Bremerton, didn’t renew the building lease with the new establishment in June.

In its place, Sound West Group plans to incorporate the property into its designs for a mixed-use commercial and residential building that is to be part of a phased redevelopment the company has proposed for downtown Port Orchard. Details about redevelopment of the 639 Bay St. site haven’t been announced yet by Sound West Group.

The keystone project would be a community events center containing the relocated Port Orchard Library and reportedly a new headquarters site for Kitsap Bank.

The development consortium has requested approximately $10 million from the Kitsap Public Facilities District to help fund the $20 million community events center.

Peninsula BevCo, meanwhile, signed a lease this summer to take over the former Amy’s By The Bay restaurant building and its ancillary Sidelines Pub location. The ownership collective has been working over the past few months to prepare the new site for its reopening this fall.