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A man who chained himself to the Greek Café building Monday morning to protest Tuesday's demolition said he did it draw more attention to the issue.

Brian McGregor was found chained to the corner of the building with a sign reading "This Place Matters."
McGregor is the owner of the Silver Dollar Saloon in Butte.

During the incident, police blocked off the intersection and firefighters were brought in with a bolt cutter. McGregor was removed without incident.

"I'm not just nostalgic about old buildings. We have people from Italy, Germany and France coming here and all summer long walking around Butte and taking pictures of these buildings and every time they take one away, it's less for people to come here and see, and tourism is a big thing from my business and everybody and just stupid to throw that away," McGregor said.

"We informed him that he would be removed from this site for his own safety, prepping to do demo work. (The) fire department stepped in, cut the lock," Sgt. Raymond Vaughn said.

The incident drew a crowd. As spectators watched, the chain was cut and McGregor left peacefully and wasn't arrested.

"This will be documented, forwarded to the county attorney's office for their review. They can press charges; that's their determination," Vaughn said.

In the meantime the site is being prepped for tomorrow's demolition. Vaughn says they plan step up patrols as a result of the incident.

"My recommendation is going to be so we have no other incidents of this that we further patrol the area, see if we can't stop this from happening for safety of individuals," he said.

A request for a preliminary injunction to halt the demolition was denied by District Judge Brad Newman on Friday.