Although rumors had circulated for weeks that the century-old Hard Rock Cafe building could be demolished, it was still a shock for dozens of Uptown residents when wrecking crews began tearing it down Saturday morning.

Passers-by, joggers and drivers watched with a mix of confusion and disbelief as a mechanized excavator tore into the sides of the structure, shattering glass, breaking bricks and sending insulation flying onto a debris pile below.

"It's just a sad day that they're tearing this building down," said Virgil Laferney, a Hard Rock customer for 21 years who had heard about the demolition plans Friday night.

Michael Durkin, general manager of a local restaurant, had started his career on the wait staff at the Hard Rock 10 years ago.

"It's a total drag," said Mr. Durkin, who gathered with a small group of former Hard Rock service staff across the street at the Idle Rich Pub. "It's a 102-year-old building that should have been saved."

The building, which previously housed the McKinney Avenue Baptist Church, was on Preservation Dallas' list of most endangered historic places in 2007, but there was little the society could do after the building was sold to real estate investor and developer Brett Landes last year and failed to gain historic status from the Dallas Landmark Commission.

"We have to put our efforts into those things we think we can have an impact on," said Steve Whitcraft, former Preservation Dallas board president.

The building was designed by renowned church architect Charles W. Bulger and built in 1906. Controversial Baptist minister John Franklyn Norris was the first pastor, serving for two years. He later was charged with and acquitted of arson and murder.

The church's interior and exterior were completed by 1913, and in 1922 the congregation managed to pay off its debt and burned the mortgage, according to a draft report by the Dallas Landmark Commission.

Hard Rock founder Isaac Tigrett opened the club in 1986 and spent about $13 million on renovations, including a rotunda similar to the one in the Texas Capitol and The Cheese Club, a replica of a room in Who guitarist Pete Townshend's home that drew the likes of Dan Aykroyd and the Blues Brothers.

Hard Rock closed last March after disappointing sales.

Dan Carr, a bartender at the neighboring Black Friar Pub, said he learned about the history of the building only recently and expressed concern about what might take its place.

"I don't know what they're going to put up there, but I was always hoping they'd do something with it," said Mr. Carr, who had heard rumors that a pharmacy chain might build on the site.

It isn't clear what will be built on the property, but it was apparent something would be happening soon when local businesses and buyers were invited to an auction about three weeks ago.

The Black Friar Pub came away with Hard Rock's hand-carved dark wood paneling and a carved bar. The paneling is now on the pub's ceiling and walls, said Vincent Martinez, the pub's general manager.

Mr. Laferney, who earned a brass star for eating about 3,000 meals at the Hard Rock, stood outside in a black leather Hard Rock Cafe coat photographing the demolition.

"I'm a major lover of this old building," he said. "It's a shame.