Demolition of the 72-year-old Rookery Building in downtown Spokane will begin within the next two weeks after crews finish removing asbestos, the property manager for owner Wendell Reugh said Thursday.

When the Rookery demolition begins, Steve Gill said, crews simultaneously will start removing asbestos from the 91-year-old Mohawk Building next door. The Mohawk also will be torn down after asbestos work is complete. Both buildings are on the block bounded by Riverside, Sprague, Howard and Stevens.

Gill said Reugh told the city of Spokane he’d offer the one-acre site for sale when demolition is complete. Local and out-of-town buyers have expressed interest, he said.

Historic preservationists worked for years trying to save both historic buildings from the wrecking ball, but numerous deals fell through. Potential buyers complained that Reugh placed too high a price on the property, but Reugh responded that the deals required him to carry too much of the financial burden.

The City of Spokane intervened last fall, going as far as offering to serve as an intermediary in a buy-and-sell agreement, but announced in June that it had exhausted efforts to save the buildings.