The historic E.K. Greer Lumber Company Store was torn down on Monday, after having been condemned more than a year ago.

Located in Wareham village on the Wareham River across from Tobey Hospital, between the British Landing condominiums and the town's Besse Park, the structure had a proud history but had fallen into disrepair in recent years.

"[The demolition] was approved by the Historical Commission and the Historic District Commission about a month ago," said Selectman Alan Slavin. "The building was falling down. It was basically a safety hazard."

The building was originally a retail store built by a member of one of Wareham's founding families, Joshua Tobey, in the mid 1800s.

Sometime after 1891, it became the Greer Lumber Company Store, after being purchased by Edwin Knowlton Greer.

Lumber was shipped to the waterside lumberyard from Maine and Canada for about 30 years. When the forests in the American West were opened for cutting in the 1920's, the lumber started coming East to Wareham by train.

The property is owned by Jack Baker, who also owns the Nantucket Lightship, which is docked nearby.

Baker paid for demolition of the store building. He could not be reached for comment.

Because the building was on the Massachusetts Historical Commission's Register of Historic Places, the demolition had to be approved by the town Historical Commission and the town Historic District Commission.

"It was on my plate when I got here, and the state building commissioner ... contacted me the first couple days I was here and told me we had to make a concerted effort to get it down," said Wareham Building Commissioner Robert Iafrate.

The old lumberyard was the subject of controversy in the late 1990's, after Baker packed the site with more than 20 Vietnam-War-era amphibious vehicles and began work on reconditioning them for civilian use.

Neighbors, particularly those at the adjacent British Landing condominiums, complained that the equipment was an eyesore and that Baker was essentially operating a junkyard.

The town brought criminal charges against Baker for zoning violations – on the narrower issue of an illegal sign and unlicensed trailers -- and Baker brought charges against the town for failing to provide requested documents.

The criminal charges were dropped after the violations were remedied through removal of the sign and trailers.

Today, at least one of the amphibious vehicles remains on the site. It and other structures on the site were untouched by demolition of the store building.

Iafrate says that once permission had been granted by the appropriate parties, it was just a matter of lining up a contractor to tear the building down.

"Everything was in place when I got here," said Iafrate, who added: "It was long overdue."

The future of the property is up in the air.

In 1998, Baker’s representatives announced that work was underway to convert the lumberyard to a ferry landing, but the ferry plans never became reality.

"There are no plans," said Iafrate this week. "There are only some ideas that were circulated verbally. ... Now we just hope they clean up real quick and come forward with some redevelopment plans."

Salvador Pina, director of the town's Community and Economic Development Authority, said he'd like to see someone take advantage of the property, possibly by building a mixed-use development.

Noting that he has not met Baker, Pina said: "I'm certainly willing to work with the property owner" to find a use for the land that will work for Wareham.