TAMPA - With the smell of burnt wood adding to the thickness of a humid day, a brick building made its last stand Tuesday after 96 years at its Ybor City corner across from the famed Columbia Restaurant.

Demolition of the structure will begin at 7 a.m. today, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said, pausing between cell phone calls to survey the damage of a Sunday night fire. A traffic signal must be removed before the two-story building, 2201 E. Seventh Ave., can come down.

The structure, which dates to 1910 and is valued at more than $600,000, housed Le Chateau, an antiques store full of lamps, mirrors, desks, chandeliers and other furniture.

"There's been a one-day reprieve," said Wade, adding that the fire department hoped to see the structure bulldozed Tuesday but had to wait for paperwork.

He estimated that the blocked streets around the building, mainly the truck route 22nd Street, will remain closed until Thursday.

Azza Ahmed cried as she watched items carried from her store.

"Seven years, seven days a week. This is home," she said.

Ahmed said she has insurance coverage but has no plans for her business.

The next-door building, 2209 E. Seventh Ave., has been rendered unfit for human habitation but won't be demolished, city code inspector Kevin Amos said. The owner, One Net Enterprises, is a wholesale distributor of toys, aboveground pools and other items.

"It will remain vacant, but an engineer has already looked at the property for repairs to be ordered," Amos said.

He said the only obstacle to the emergency demolition of Ahmed's store would have been a desire by the city's historic preservation office to save the structure.

"But it was obvious that it was too badly damaged, even the façade," he said.

Amos said the Kimmins Contracting Corp. demolition crew would use water to keep dust to a minimum.

"Our main concern, besides safety, is to get this area cleaned up," he said. "It's a major intersection."

The building is owned by Andre D. Callen, vice president and director of H.I. Development Corp. Callen will pay for the demolition, Amos said.

Wade said the likelihood of asbestos in the brick and timber structure hadn't been addressed. "We need to get this razed quickly, so all crews will wear protective gear," he said.

Arriving Tuesday afternoon for one last look at the building that housed their Masons meetings for five decades were Joe Caldevilla, 66, and Angel Ranon, 86. The fraternal organization stopped leasing space in the building two years ago.

"It was a nice old building," Caldevilla said.

"But not so nice the last few years," Ranon added. "It needed a lot of repairs."

"Still," Caldevilla said, "there were a lot of memories."

Photographer Mark Guss contributed to this report. Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 835-2104.