The contractor who tore down the old Army Barracks building on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs did the work with no building or demolition permits, and town building inspector Richard Mavro failed to issue a stop-work order on the project, even though demolition work had been under way for several weeks.

The demolition of the building was completed last week.

This week Mr. Mavro said he had given the contractor, Gene Erez, verbal permission to perform "exploratory demolition" of the historic structure at 45 Circuit avenue.

Mr. Erez, who owns the property, learned at Tuesday's board of selectmen meeting that he may face substantial fines from the town.

David Wilson, a member of the Oak Bluffs Historical Commission, said Mr. Erez may have violated more than one town bylaw.

Not only did Mr. Erez admit that he did not obtain any building or demolition permits - as of Tuesday, he still did not have any - he also took down a building that is more than 100 years old with no town review.

On Tuesday selectmen directed Mr. Mavro to use town counsel to explore what violations had occurred and what should be done about it. Town administrator Casey Sharpe said Mr. Erez could face fines of up to $300 a day on the historic district bylaw violation alone, until he somehow remedies the matter.

"The bottom line is you didn't have any permits and then you tore down the building," selectman and board chairman Roger Wey told Mr. Erez Tuesday night.

"We see what was being done there," Mr. Wey said. "Suddenly a building disappeared. There is a process. People are concerned. It doesn't seem like you followed the process at all."

Mr. Erez said the demolition was inadvertent. He said he started out to do as little to the building as possible, both to contain costs and the amount of time he would spend on the project.

"What I'm telling you is that was not my intent," Mr. Erez said. "This is the way it came out due to the circumstances that I found."

He said he initially sought to renovate the first floor and provide more of a foundation for the building. But then he found the first floor walls so badly rotted that he removed them and kept the second floor aloft with jacks. Then he found serious structural defects in the upper part of the structure, and decided to demolish the entire building.

Mr. Erez said he applied for a building permit, but forgot to obtain the permit before starting work. He also failed to obtain a demolition permit and town permission to destroy a historic building. The structure dates to the 1870s.

A review of records Wednesday morning in Mr. Mavro's office showed that Mr. Erez applied Nov. 30 for a permit to demolish the first floor interior and put in a foundation. The building inspector reviewed the permit Dec. 8 and made a note the following day that the application required a foundation plan from a state-licensed engineer.

Plans for the project were filed with the building inspector Monday. That same day, the office made a note that the project was incomplete.

Asked why he did not place a stop-work order on the project, Mr. Mavro replied: "I will be going over that and information will be forthcoming."

On Wednesday afternoon, selectman Kerry Scott questioned how Mr. Mavro could have failed to observe the demolition work that was under way on Circuit avenue, a busy thoroughfare that runs right through the center of town.

"He would have been on Mars for two weeks to have missed it," Ms. Scott said.

In a letter to the selectmen dated Tuesday, Mr. Mavro wrote, "Mr. Erez has spoken to me about repairing the first floor walls and constructing a new foundation. He has a verbal to perform exploratory demolition.

"A message was left on my voice mail that the structure was beyond repair and that he was going to tear it down and that he hoped it was okay with me," Mr. Mavro wrote. "I left him a message and told him that we needed to look at everything [all regulations] before I could allow this. No permit has been approved or issued for the demolition/reconstruction."

In a letter to Mr. Mavro last Friday, Mr. Wilson and Renee Balter, who is also a member of the historical commission, said the town adopted a bylaw in December 2003 on the preservation of historically significant buildings. Any building in Oak Bluffs that is 100 or more years old is subject to the bylaw.

"Generally, such buildings may not be demolished without review by the [commission]," they wrote.

In 1978, the Oak Bluffs Historical Society, which conducted an inventory of historic buildings, described the building at 45 Circuit avenue in this way: "This building is significant as an example of early architecture which has remained essentially intact, closely resembling old photos of it taken in the late 1800s."

Members of the commission asked Mr. Mavro for copies of the completed application for demolition of the structure and the emergency demolition permit, if applicable.

In addition to considering fines for Mr. Erez, the board also is considering referring the project to the Martha's Vineyard Commission, since the renovation exceeds 2,000 square feet in a commercial zone. Ms. Scott said commission referrals offer the advantage of placing conditions on project construction, as well as the ultimate design and use of the project.

On Tuesday Mr. Wey castigated Mr. Erez, saying the contractor had misrepresented the project's status in a conversation with Ms. Sharpe and him. At the time, Mr. Erez was seeking town help with traffic control while the project was under way.

"You told me you had all the permits," Mr. Wey said.