With UK scheduled to demolish another historical building within the next week, over 40 protesters picked up their picket signs and headed downtown at 11 a.m. on Wednesday to express their opposition.

“You’re losing a 150-year-old house here,” said historic preservation specialist and protester Jason Sloan in regards to the scheduled demolition of Hamilton House, which is set to be replaced by new residence halls.

The Hamilton House was built in 1880 and has recently been used by north campus students as a study center.  But for the protesters, its deep history is simply worth too much to tear down.

“Suppose Venice or Rome or Paris tore down all of their old stuff,” said Brenda Pettit, a Lexington resident who strongly opposes the pending demolition.  Fellow protestor Jerry Nichols had a similar sentiment.

“What if Transylvania University tore down Morrison Hall because it’s old and outdated?” said Nichols, who has lived in Lexington for 25 years and referred to the tearing down of local historic buildings as “criminal.”

The idea to hold a formal protest was started by The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, represented by Sloan and executive director Sheila Ferrell, who said they had received a lot of support from Lexington residents, particularly former UK students.

“It’s a historic building that does not have to come down,” Ferrell said.  “Progress is not about tearing down historic buildings, it’s not necessary.”

The organization annually releases their “Eleven in their eleventh hour” list, which highlights historic sites that are in danger of being demolished.  The Hamilton House was included in the 2014 edition of this list, as were sites like the Kirwan-Blanding complex, Patterson Hall, Holmes Hall, Jewell Hall and Donovan Hall.

According to Ferrell, historic preservation is a form of green initiative, as demolishing buildings produces a lot of rubble that takes up a lot of land.

“All this is going into a landfill,” Ferrell said.  “Can you imagine how much is going into that landfill?”  Ferrell said that the organization has attempted to contact UK President Eli Capilouto but have been unsuccessful.

“We’ve communicated with UK on numerous occasions,” Ferrell said, while saying that she did not know why the president had yet to respond to the organization.  “Dr. Capilouto has not made any comments about historic preservation.”

UK spokesman Jay Blanton assured that the university is concerned about historic preservation.

“We always respect the rights of people — whether they agree with our position or not — to make their voices heard,” said Blanton, who said that UK is in agreement with the organization on the “concern about preserving the institution’s architectural heritage.”

Blanton listed several historic sites at UK, such as the Student Center, Lafferty Hall and Funkhouser, that are at the focus of “campus revitilization efforts.”