A small two-storey stone stable building, dating from 1875, and a larger single-storey stable, built around 1900, on the McDonald St site were listed as heritage buildings in the Central Otago district plan.
A fire in the building damaged the roof and allowed moisture to get in, and walls had cracked, Central Otago District Council planning manager Louise van der Voort said yesterday.
"In consultation with the building owners and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT), we agreed to the partial demolition of the building in September last year, because of concerns for the public safety as the building was in a dangerous state," she said.
That was on the understanding that consent would be applied for retrospectively, she said.
The application, by owners Mervyn and Patricia Miller, of Mosgiel, seeks to demolish the building and clear the site.
NZHPT Otago-Southland area manager Owen Graham said the trust would definitely be making a submission "as it's one of the oldest stone buildings in central Alexandra so it has some significance and is listed on the [Central Otago] district plan as a heritage building".
Mr Graham said the trust's preference would have been for the building to be preserved or reused in some way.
"However, the Historic Places Trust has no powers to require a private owner of a building to do something.
"We can only use advocacy."
The building was on an archaeological site, he said.
An archaeological assessment of the building by conservation architects Jackie Gillies and Associates, filed as part of the application, said McDonald St was formerly Mullingar St and appeared on the earliest known map of Alexandra dated 1865.
The site was believed to be the location of the town's first school from 1864 to 1970.
The original school building was demolished in 1899 or 1900 and replaced with the single-storey stable building.
It was possible material from the school was used in the construction of the present building, the report said.
The stables had been built in conjunction with the major redevelopment of the Criterion Hotel in 1899 or 1900.
The hotel backed on to McDonald St.
The most recent occupier of the building was the Alexandra Boxing Club, which used it as a training facility.
Attempts to contact the building owners were unsuccessful yesterday.
Submissions on the application close on May 3.
