KITCHENER — Bricks, splintered wood and steel rained down onto King Street on Tuesday afternoon as the demolition of the former Mayfair Hotel began a day early in downtown Kitchener.

A small crowd gathered on the closed street to watch as a high-reach excavator equipped with a claw-like grappler began picking apart the old building from the top down.

The large piece of machinery carefully knocked out windows and peeled off the fire escape from the King Street facade.

At one point, the chorus of the Miley Cyrus song "Wrecking Ball" could be heard coming from a balcony across the street where a few people had gathered.

Onlookers — some gasping, others cheering — reacted as large sections of the 110-year-old former hotel crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"I'm a history buff," said Joyce Young, who works across the street at Budds.

"I still think it's a travesty with what they did with (the former) Kitchener city hall. … But safety has to trump sentimentality."

The six-storey building was ordered to be demolished after an April water-main break and subsequent investigation revealed serious structural concerns.

Those concerns spread to the adjacent building, originally home to Hymmen Hardware, which will also be demolished in the coming days.

Crews initially expected to begin demolition on Wednesday, but site preparation was completed early and the work began in earnest.

"We're closing the street and we don't want to burden the businesses," said Sittler Demolition president Steve Sittler.

"We want to get this work completed as quickly and safely as possible."

By late Tuesday afternoon, the King Street facade had been removed down to the top of the first floor.

The majority of the façade stretching up Young Street remains. Sittler said crews expect to remove the upper three floors next before removing a section of the Hymmen building, then working their way down to ground level.

"It's a process that changes as you go," he said, depending on what crews uncover.

On Tuesday, for example, workers determined that one section with a couple of large windows had virtually no structural integrity left, Sittler said, and had to come down sooner than planned.

Kitchener's chief building official, Mike Seiling, said he was pleased about the head start.

"The sooner it starts, the sooner they finish."

Heritage advocates criticized the demolition order, but officials say both buildings were in danger of imminent collapse.

Safety has been "my main priority since day one," Seiling said.

The demolition and debris cleanup is expected to take about two weeks. Property owner Bernie Nimer will be required to grass over the site once debris is removed.

Portions of King and Young streets are currently closed to traffic and pedestrians. Fencing around the site is covered and a large net hangs from a crane over King Street to catch any errant debris.

On the other side of the fencing, pedestrians were still allowed to use the King Street sidewalk across from the Mayfair. At least one passerby raised concerns about whether that was safe.

"We wouldn't open it if it wasn't safe," Sittler said. "We can't just close the businesses along there."

Back on King Street, people expressed sentiments ranging from nostalgia to relief as the work progressed.

"It's kind of sad," said Sabrina Poplawski. "My favourite downtown centres are the ones that have some heritage appeal.

"It would be nice to see at least some characteristics of it saved."

Crews hope to save hundreds of bricks and features such as a section of the wood cornice and window decorations.

"We're going to take every opportunity to salvage what we can, but the safety of the workers and the public is first and foremost," Sittler said, adding that a couple of keystones have already been removed.

A look of amazement crossed onlooker Josh Vanbergen's face as he watched the work.

"I've never seen a big building being demolished," he said. "It's too bad they're demolishing it. We'll miss it like crazy."

David Vaughan lived in the former hotel for about four years, and said he was disappointed to see it go.

"They could have done something to save it," he said.

"People have bits of their personal history attached to these buildings," said Joyce Young.

"It's a part of the city and it's sad to see it go, but we're looking forward to seeing what they're going to put in there next."