A New Jersey appeals court has given a boost to the Campbell Soup Company's plans to raze a former department store building near its headquarters in Camden.

An appellate court on Monday threw out a lawsuit filed by the owner of the former Sears building and a Camden activist.

Campbell says it wants to clear the building to develop a corporate park near its headquarters.

But owner Ilan Zaken says he wants to turn the 1927 building into a culinary school and to house restaurant-supply businesses.

The lawsuit argued that some Camden officials had conflicts of interest when the ruled the building could be razed.

Activist Frank Fulbrook tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that he and Zaken have not decided whether to appeal.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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