Fashion victims!

Having recently discovered that “vintage is in again,” the Reno City Council issued a statement saying it now regrets the decision to allow developers to move forward with the demolition of several mid-century motels in city’s downtown district, despite outcry from many residents and historic preservation activists.

“When the new season of Rehab or Raze came on Friday night, I knew we’d jumped the gun,” said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, referring to the hit HGTV series, a new season of which premiered Friday night. “The very first property they showed was this ugly mid-century place. I thought they’d tear it down, for sure, but they rehabbed it.”

The council’s statement on the matter acknowledged that the destruction of several old motels in recent years could backfire and hurt the hip reputation the city has sought to develop for itself—especially if a trend of featuring mid-century modern and other retro architectural styles appears in more popular shows like This Slightly Outdated House or Heritage Hustlers.

“We’ve been on a lot of ’most popular’ and ’best city’ lists in recent years,” said City Councilmember Neoma Jardon. “I swear, last year, all of the hipsters were into industrial design—you know, like the new Virginia Street Bridge? How is Reno supposed to keep reinventing itself if it can’t keep up with these trends?”

The development company, which prior to demolishing the old hotels issued a statement saying there were no immediate plans for redevelopment, has indicated that—should mid-century modern aesthetics continue to gain traction as a prevailing trend—new development on the sites could end up echoing the design influences of the very buildings it bulldozed.