Demolition of Downtown buildings on San Antonio Street occurred late Tuesday night

Downtown El Paso became full of dust Tuesday night with the demolition of buildings in the 200 block of San Antonio.

Historic preservationists have been angry in recent days that the property owner – River Oaks – had plans to raze the entire block of five buildings at the corner of San Antonio and Mesa.

The owner had said it’s too costly to restore old properties and these are not on the historic registry.

River Oaks asked for permission to demolish them and the City granted it.

Preservationists say the property at 214 San Antonio is the oldest, free-standing brick building in all of Downtown and it’s worth preserving.