Batavia’s Tin Shop stood for 135 years, but it took only a couple of days for the historical building to become a pile of rubble.

Built in 1890 but vacant for several years and increasingly dilapidated, the two-story structure’s demolition makes way for a plaza with public restrooms on the city-owned River Street property.

[ See more photos of the Batavia Tin Shop demolition ]

Preservationists and some residents lamented the loss of another piece of local history. But the gap between wanting to save an old building and the practicalities of making that happen proved too great to bridge.

Not that there weren’t efforts.

The city purchased the building in 2016 as part of a $1.25 million land acquisition intended for a development that never materialized. Batavia then tried to work with developers to include the structure in new redevelopment plans and later sought proposals to rehabilitate and repurpose the Tin Shop, but neither panned out nor was deemed cost-prohibitive. The idea of selling and moving the old shop was also floated, but no buyer came forward.

While exploring other options, a divided City Council moved forward with a Certificate of Appropriateness, needed by local ordinance to tear down a building deemed to contribute to the downtown historical district.

The latest reprieve for the building at 106 N. River St. – a November demolition had been planned – was merely the result of logistics, with a city representative citing scheduling conflicts over the holidays with the contractor and the need for additional information-gathering about the restoration of the land after demolition work.

The city made a point to note on its Facebook page that the sign painted on the building – advertising oil, coal, gas and furnaces – had been saved.

“Because there has been some concern, we wanted to let you know that the sign on the Tin Shop has survived the building’s demolition,” the post said. “We are saving it and have plans to install it in the new plaza that is planned for the site.”

The post also said the sign has been moved “to a secure location indoors.”

In neighboring Geneva, time appears to be running out for another historical, deteriorating building: A blacksmith shop from the 1840s that resulted in a long-running legal fight between the city and the developer that owns the property.