CAMBRIDGE -- Crews are securing the Preston Springs Hotel for demolition.
The process of bringing down the building is expected to start in the coming days. Crews are removing hazardous materials and salvaging any items of heritage value.
The vice president of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario - Cambridge and North Dumfries said she's not giving up on saving the hotel.
"We're still hoping to stop this," Karen Scott Booth said. "I have been in touch the Superior Court of Justice. We are looking into the process of getting an injunction. We are concerned with the timing, of course."
The City of Cambridge issued an emergency order on Christmas Eve to demolish the building. In a news release, officials said the structure was unsafe and posed immediate risk to the community.
"This came as an absolute surprise to the ACO and to many members of the community," Scott Booth said.
City officials said the decision to demolish the building wasn't made by council. On Nov. 3, council voted 8-1 to refuse building owner Haastown's demolition application. A conservation review hearing was set for April 2021 to see if the building's heritage designation could be removed. The emergency order supersedes that process.
The city said the emergency order includes a plan to follow a heritage salvage plan.
"We don't believe that this is a legitimate emergency," Scott Booth said. "It's devastating on so many levels."
Preston history buff Greg Pautler said he's hopeful some of the building's features could be saved.
"I'd like to see the front door facade saved," he said. "Inside the front door, there is a fountain that has run from day one, from when the building was built."
The city didn't say if it had set a demolition date.
