The Eastside Heritage Center called on Bellevue residents to join its cause to save the city’s oldest structure on Main Street from demolition to make way for future development during a public hearing Wednesday night at City Hall.

The Philbrook House is a Victoria-era home built in the 1890s at 10133 Main Street that has been repurposed over the past 120 years and is listed on the city’s historic resources inventory, said Heather Trescases, executive director for Eastside Heritage. It began as a farmhouse and then a residence for a Civil War veteran before becoming a restaurant in the 1920s, which included serving whalers headquartered in Meydenbauer Bay. In the 1940s it was a plumbing store and then various antique businesses from the 70s to 90s.

Owners of the Gordon James Fine Diamonds store also own the historic structure behind the shop, and propose to level it to make way for a two-story, 1,600-square-foot office building.

“We’re sad to see it go and to see it go off Main Street because it really represents the early Bellevue story,” Trescases said. “My hope would be that they do adopt a reuse and do what is needed to keep it in its place.”

Eastside Heritage representatives and a number of concerned residents plan to speak out about preserving the historic building during tonight’s public hearing for design review of the project, which starts 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Trescases said if there were an option to move the historic home, it would not be paid for by the developers of the property.