Mr Thompson said the tender process for the demolition of the hotel was "pretty straight forward".

He told the Magnet on Tuesday he was "99 per cent sure" the demolition contract would be awarded to Rankin Builders.

Contracts are still to be signed and there have been no formal discussions with Bega Valley Shire Council.

But Mr Thompson is not about to reignite debate over the controversial demolition.

"The matter has been taken to the highest court of NSW and they have said it is not a heritage item," Mr Thompson said.

Save the Pit advocate, Peter Whiter, said until the demolition started there was still a chance to save it.

Angela George, another Save-the-Pit advocate said that many towns people have repeatedly pointed out that Eden doesn't need a third supermarket; while others have said that some existing buildings could do with improvements to give the town a better image. 

"The fact remains though that the loss of an iconic building to replace it with a lesser one that could well remain empty is not a real solution," she said.

But despite resistance from many Eden residents, Mr Thompson said the economic promise of a new supermarekt brings with it more employment, healthy competition, cash injections into local business during demolition and construction, and more shopping variety.

"Our national retailer has looked into it and they've done their research," Mr Thompson said when asked about the viability of a third supermarket.

"The other supermarket (IGA, opposite) is a dilapidated building and could never compete properly with Coles," he said. 

Neil Rankin from Rankin builders who is signing with Mr Thompson to demolish the building said he is pretty open for anyone to ring him up (once demolition has started) and have a chat as he can see both sides.

Mr Rankin has been building supermarkets for a long time.

"I helped build the IGA supermarket opposite the Australasia when I was 16 (years old), so I know that building has problems," he said.

"A lot has to be put away for the public during the demolishing stage, such as the beautiful old staircase."

The Bega Valley Shire Council has set down 81 detailed conditions of approval that must be met prior to, during and after demolition by the contracted party.

There is a chance for members of the public to obtain parts of the old building during this demolition process. 

The details of condition 33 include that the following material from the existing development to be carefully removed and stockpiled  (but not cleaned, de-nailed, repaired or made good, as the case may be) on the development site during the demolition phase of the works.

Mr Thompson said that items wouldn't be made available to the public until towards the end of the demolition process.

The new supermarket is yet to be named but there has been a lot of interest from other chains.

"We're keeping it close to our chests for now," Mr Thompson said.

According to word on the street, anonymous sources have said there were "headworks" on the front and back of the building site that would be over $800,000, which may have proved the move too expensive and the demolition might not go ahead. 

However, a Bega Valley Shire Council spokesperson has dispelled this rumour saying that the only charge of this nature would be the condition 2 of the consent requiring the following; 

"payment for provision of carparking of a cash contribution of $453,100.00 prior to release of the construction certificate/commencement of the use to offset the shortfall of 46 car spaces not provided on-site."

"This is a one-off payment which is required to be paid prior to issue of the construction certificate for the construction of the supermarket development," he said.

A rough estimate for the open date of the new supermarket is early to mid 2016.