HAMPTON -- The vacant old Town Hall on Winnacunnet Road is finally coming down. The building has been an eyesore for some, a potential location for a senior center for others and more recently a place to do drugs.

Crews started demolishing the building this week after voters gave the OK to get raze it at the March election.

"The building had deteriorated and it was time for the building to come down," said Town Manager Fred Welch.

The building has been vacant since 1999, when the town offices moved into the former Citizens Bank location on Winnacunnet Road. While there have been long-term discussions in the past about demolishing the old building, selectmen moved forward with sponsoring the warrant article last year after the building was broken into for the purpose of doing drugs.

"How do we know it was for drug use? We actually found drug paraphernalia inside," Welch said at the time.

While the warrant article contained no money to do the job, selectmen voted two weeks ago to use money from this year's projected surplus in the town's operating budget. Cost for the demolition project is $22,200.

Welch had pushed for the demolition as the building was no longer salvageable. It suffered severe damage after a sump pump in the basement failed several years ago, flooding the building and destroying a lot of old town records.

Demolition crews began on the front portion of the building Monday after utilities were fully disconnected. Once the building is razed and debris is hauled off site, officials said the contractor will use material stored at the town's Department of Public Works to fill the hole.

The demolition ends years of talk of renovating the building as a senior center. The idea never caught on and residents defeated the proposal twice at the voting booth.

See additional photos of the demolition