County and community leaders and law enforcement officials gathered Thursday to commemorate the old county jail in Hilo in advance of its demolition this month.

Contractor Heartwood Pacific and engineers will begin removing plumbing and electrical wiring this week and the building itself will be brought down in mid-February. New wiring, topsoil and grass will be put in after that, with the project expected to be completed by July.

“This was a long time coming,” said Hawaii Community Correctional Center warden Peter Cabreros. “I’m sad to see it go but I know that this now opens up more space for future jail redevelopment.”

The old jail, built in the late 1890s at a cost of $13,895, occupies a large square next to HCCC. The two-story, red-brick building has 11 6-by-8-foot cells that stopped housing inmates in 1978. The jail was turned into HCCC’s business office and maintenance unit until it was condemned in the early 2000s.

The state Department of Public Safety tried unsuccessfully to find an organization willing to relocate and preserve the building.