Demolition of the remaining buildings on the downtown block where CentrePointe is planned to be built began, last night.

Bulldozers worked to tear down the Rite Aid Pharmacy building while crowds of people gathered to watch and cars drove by honking, fists waving out the window.

“I can’t believe the people, such a contrast,” said Gary Michaels, Lexington resident. “For some people it’s a spectacle, for others it’s a loss.”

The demolition went into the night until the entire pharmacy was leveled.

Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine ruled Tuesday that no provisions of the law allow for a halt of demolition to the block and gave the go-ahead to raze the remaining buildings.

She ruled against an injunction filed by Preserve Lexington to stop demolition until a September meeting with the Planning Commission, with whom they filed an appeal.

Preserve Lexington, a historic preservation group, filed the appeal against the unanimous decision made in late June by the Courthouse Area Design Review Board to grant permits for the demolition of the block.

A city ordinance, which established the Courthouse Area Design Zone, allows for an appeal to the Planning Commission but does not provide for a stay of action until the commission meets. The Planning Commission tentatively set a hearing for Sept. 18.

“Even though we still legally can meet for the appeal in September, since the judge wouldn’t stop demolition there will be nothing for us to appeal,” said Hayword Wilkirson, president of the board of Preserve Lexington.

Developers Dudley and Woodford Webb can move forward with construction of the 35-story, $250 million luxury high-rise hotel, condominium, retail and restaurant project, Goodwine said. However she is “totally disappointed” that the developers were not in court to answer questions about their development.

According to court records, Goodwine said she hoped to ask the developers about the concept of their design “and why there was no community involvement.”

“Our downtown belongs to all citizens, not just the developers of this project,” Goodwine said Tuesday.

Goodwine said that while the developers purchased the block and it is now private property, the two-year planning stages of the project could have included community input instead of taking place behind closed doors.

Phone calls to the Webbs were not returned by press time.

Wilkirson said the College of Design made a great effort when they sponsored an alternative design competition for the CentrePointe block but it was “way too late.”

“This is how things should have gone from the beginning: having a competition for the best design for the area but it didn’t happen that way,” Wilkirson said.

Preserve Lexington will consider challenging the nature of how the project is designed, Wilkirson said, but the group first has to consider whether the challenge would be “a productive thing to do.”

“Realistically, it’s the only thing (Preserve Lexington) has left to do,” Wilkirson said, “but the odds of influencing the project at this stage are awfully small and we haven’t decided what we’ll do.”

Staff writer Allie Garza

contributed to this story.