Two familiar Chattanooga properties could soon disappear from the city landscape as officials consider an expanded demolition contract.

The buildings are the former Lamar’s Restaurant and Motel on Martin Luther King Boulevard and the old Farmers Market building on East 11th Street.

The city is considering raising its on-call demolition contract with Tower Construction from $300,000 to $700,000.

Reported estimates put removal of the Lamar’s property at about $309,000 and the old market building at about $84,000.

Because the contract proposal still requires consideration by City Council, the work should be viewed as proposed rather than completed.

Lamar’s opened in 1970 and became known locally for its food and distinctive place in the neighborhood.

The vacant structure later experienced a damaging fire in 2022 and was boarded up.

The former curb market building also carries memories of a different era in downtown Chattanooga, when produce stands drew shoppers to the area.

City plans call for demolition down to the concrete base if the contract expansion proceeds.

For longtime residents, the decision raises a familiar tension between removing deteriorating structures and preserving places that hold community history.

Neither building’s future use has been established in the information currently available.

The buildings’ histories make this more than a routine property-maintenance matter.

Any final decision will change two recognizable sites and invite questions about what should come next.