Norwich — A demolition pending sign will be placed on the Reid & Hughes Building within the next few days, starting a 60-day waiting period required for the demolition of a historic building, and state historic preservation officials already have started gathering information to determine whether the building is beyond salvaging, as the City Council has determined.

The City Council voted 5-2 Monday to approve an ordinance to bond $800,000 to tear down the 1880 former department store at 193-201 Main St. over the objections of 16 residents, business owners and historic preservation advocates who spoke at a public hearing prior to the vote.

Now, city officials and preservation advocates are bringing their arguments to the state Historic Preservation Office, a division of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

Todd Levine, architectural historian for the office, said he already has received information from Norwich City Planner Deanna Rhodes, including an engineering report on the condition of the building, and from the Norwich Heritage Trust, the lead organization promoting saving the building.

Levine said Wednesday he will send a questionnaire to the city asking for details of why the city decided to tear down the building rather than work with a prospective developer, the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development.

Part of the state's review will include whether there is a “prudent and feasible alternative” to save the building. He said public support for saving the building also would be considered.

Levine said he also will ask city officials for access to the building for a site visit, which could be as early as next week.

He said the issue could be brought to the state Historic Preservation Council — which replaced the former state Historical Commission, which reviewed and rejected Norwich's plan to demolish the Wauregan Hotel more than 15 years ago. The commission meets on the first Wednesday of each month in Hartford.

The Connecticut Environmental Protection Act allows anyone to seek a court injunction when an owner proposes to demolish a building on the National Register of Historic Places. The Reid & Hughes is listed as a contributing building in the downtown National Historic District.

But state officials or a judge also could determine there are no feasible alternatives, and that the demolition is a “reasonable destruction” of a historical building.

The Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development has proposed renovating the building into 20 single-bedroom apartments — half reserved for formerly homeless veterans. Institute Executive Director Betsy Crum has asked the city to spend about $300,000 to shore up the decaying structure to allow time to secure grants and loans for the project.

City Historian Dale Plummer, president of the Norwich Heritage Trust, said the group has been in contact with Levine and plans to ask the state council “to do whatever they need to prevent the unreasonable demolition of a historic building.”

Plummer said the Norwich Heritage Trust also is considering asking the city for access to the Reid & Hughes — which is condemned — to allow an independent structural engineer to assess the condition of the building.

The split-level building has a four-story structure attached to a three-story building. The roof on the three-story portion is partially collapsed, and rotted floors from years of rainwater also have collapsed. Upper walls also have rotted. Interiors have mold and wildlife feces.

An engineer from CLA Engineers Inc. of Norwich said in a report that the lower roof continues to deteriorate and has caused the top portions of the upper walls to fail.

“If portions of the deteriorating low roof collapse further, we recommend re-evaluating the structural stability of the overall building,” the engineering report dated Aug. 15, 2016, stated. “Depending on the magnitude of damage from the next structural failure, it is possible that the pedestrian sidewalk and roadway could be unsafe for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”

c.bessette@theday.com