DENISON, TX -- Workers arrived Wednesday morning to the historic Katy Antique station to start the demolition process.

The first step is to tear down the water tower.

Ronnie Wine with W&W Enterprises said workers began removing loose pieces from the tower while they waited for a crane.

"We're gonna cut some holes in the top of it, see how much it can lift and decide whether we have to cut it in half or bring it down in once piece," he said.

And once the water tower is down, a different company - Phoenix 1 Restoration and Construction - will take over demolishing the building.

City Manager Robert Hanna said the company received the signed contracts for the building demolition Wednesday, and will have a pre-deconstruction meeting on March 4.

Downtown business owners said they're sad to see such a historic building be torn down. But they also said they understand that it's necessary.

Marcus Hubbard's family has owned Hubbard Furniture, down the street from the station, since 1948.

His building had a similar structural collapse four years earlier.

"So I have real empathy for the them, because the building nearly collapsed," he said.

His wife used to work at the antique station when she worked for the railroad, he said.

"We hate to see it go down, you know, it's a neat old building, but it's just too bad they can't fix it. But it's gonna cost too much money to fix it," he said.

In the next few weeks, workers will be cleaning out interior items from inside the building, Hanna said. Outside demolition will start sometime after that March 4 meeting.