Computer giant Apple is taking its remodel of a new downtown Santa Barbara location seriously. For the past several weeks, it has been gutting the former Pier 1 Imports at 928 State St., which closed earlier this year.

Contractor Terry Stobie of Urban Pacific Demolition said his team is currently demolishing the interior of the 9,583-square-foot building, removing everything except the four walls.

“The building used to have a mezzanine, but the next tenant wants two stories so everything had to come out,” he said. “We’ll be pulling out soon, but demolition is just a portion of the process.”

On-site demolition supervisor Elijio Qurnoz said Urban Pacific has been working on the building for a few months now and is in its final stages before starting to rebuild. This news should come as a relief to nearby businesses, most of which have had to put up with the sound of jackhammers for the past few weeks.

Stobie said the demolition crew should be finished in the coming weeks, but estimated that it will take another three to four months to complete the construction.

“They’ve already brought steel in and will be making it larger and more elaborate than it was,” Stobie said. “They’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Although Apple didn’t offer a comment on the new location, it appears obvious that the iPod manufacturer will be the next occupant of the building. It’s common knowledge among the Urban Pacific workers, and a Business Times photographer even captured an image of the Apple name on a barrel of drilling mud.

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