The frigid temperatures did not discourage a crowd of local officials, business people, Northern Essex Community College trustees and foundation members, and Merrimack Valley residents, who gathered at the corner of Common and Hampshire Streets in Lawrence on January 3 to witness the first strikes taken in the process of demolishing the InTown Mall on Common Street.  The dilapidated three-story building, which was built 50 years ago to house retail businesses on the first floor and a parking lot on the second and third floors, is being torn down to make way for the Northern Essex Community College El-Hefni Health & Technology Center.  See the video.