A historic CBD building that was at the heart of Melbourne's fight to eradicate tuberculosis last century is being demolished and replaced with a 31-storey university tower, after a community push to save the building was unsuccessful.

For 90 years, Little Lonsdale Street was home to the unassuming red brick Tuberculosis Bureau, playing a crucial role in the battle against the deadly lung disease after the First World War.

The site where the Tuberculosis Bureau is being demolished, pictured on December 28. Credit:Simon Schluter

The building has stood empty for 22 years while modern glass towers sprouted around it.

However its quiet residency just came to an end, with bulldozers moving in to begin construction of Victoria University's ambitious ‘vertical campus’.