It was inspiring Wednesday to see New London issue a collective roar in the growing war between downtown landlord William Cornish and the city's preservation minded, which turns out to be a lot of people.

The occasion Wednesday was a skirmish before the state Historic Preservation Council, which, after hearing from both sides, voted unanimously to ask Attorney General George Jepsen to intervene to stop the demolition of two buildings Cornish owns at 116 and 130 Bank Street.

Cornish was both cordial and defiant before the council, vowing in the end to fight on.

After hearing long heartfelt pleas to the commission from preservationists, he told the council that they had not changed his mind a bit.

"If you move this fight to another level then I will see you there," Cornish told the council, before they voted to bring in the attorney general.

Cornish, who owns seven buildings on Bank Street and one on State, said he had no idea the buildings he wants to tear down were on the National Register of Historic Places when he bought them.

The two, as well as others Cornish owns, are part of a combined district on the register, much of the downtown, with individual buildings serving as contributing parts of the whole.

Cornish said if he loses the demolition fight he would sell 116 and 130 Bank Street before he would attempt the kinds of renovation envisioned by an architect hired by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, which also claims in a projected business plan that the restored Bank Street buildings could generate a considerable return on investment, with grant funding and tax cuts.

"Someone is welcome to buy it," Cornish said. "I will take the money and run."

He also offered the buildings for free to anyone who wants to relocate them.

His plans, Cornish said, are driven by the numbers and the two buildings are too small to generate sufficient revenue. He said he wants to tear them down and replace them with one much larger building with 20 apartments.

The state preservation trust has been joined by New London Landmarks in trying to stop the Bank Street demolitions, and both organizations gave detailed presentations Wednesday on the historic significance of the buildings and how they relate to the other buildings in the district.

By tearing them down, Cornish would adversely impact the value of the others around them in the district, they said.

"Nowhere is our maritime heritage more evident than on Bank Street, named for the bank of the Thames River," said Laura Natusch, executive director of landmarks.

"When you approach Bank Street you see the same buildings that 19th century whalers saw when they sailed into port . . . Without that streetscape, all our (Whaling City) pride is just window dressing. Those Bank Street buildings are the windows."

Natusch noted a petition drive to preserve the buildings collected 1,518 signatures. That's more than double the number of people who signed recent petitions to demand that the City Council cut taxes.

The downtown community was instrumental in getting so many signatures, Natusch said. The petitions were available in 17 different downtown businesses, she said.

Landmarks has received 27 letters in support of its campaign, including many from local and regional organizations dedicated to the arts, economic development, preservation and environmental issues. The City Council gave its unanimous support, she said.

In a letter read to the council, Mayor Michael Passero also made a strong plea to try to save the buildings, saying their demolition would forever diminish the integrity of downtown.

A spokesman for the attorney general said that, once the referral from the council is formally filed, an assistant attorney general will be assigned to review the case and develop an assessment that will be used to determine how the office will proceed.

The attorney general has been successful in similar lawsuits he has brought on behalf of the council.

My guess is that, with the downtown real estate market growing hot, Cornish might make good on his suggestion of selling rather than renovating the buildings. Maybe that will even happen before a court steps in.

In any case, since it looks like preservationists have a lot of support and some new political muscle, it may be time to lobby for a more powerful historic district, one with the authority to rule on the appropriateness of any changes to historic buildings.

The time is right, given the increasing interest in the downtown by developers and the fact that one of the largest downtown property owners didn't even know much of Bank Street is on the national register.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com