Demolition begins on Clarion Hotel

Published: Monday, 7/7/2014 - Updated: 6 hours ago

BLADE STAFF

Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins held a news conference today to mark the first day of demolition of the vacant Clarion Hotel in South Toledo.

This has been a long time coming, Mayor Collins said. The building at at 2340 S. Reynolds Rd.has stood empty since 2009 when the previous owners, Florida-based Toledo Hotel Investment Group LLC, defaulted on $2 million in loans. The hotel has been described as a public safety hazard and has been broken into, vandalized, lived in illegally, and caught fire last month. The city is the current property owner.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click here for more photos from todays press conference

The demolition is scheduled to take 12 weeks and is being carried out by Carleton, Michigan-based Homrich company, who won the contract with a $434,000 bid.

Crews tore out a few trees from in front of the hotel at the ceremony today; demolition on the exterior of the building itself cannot be carried out until asbestos abatement has been performed on the interior.

Mayor Collins called the demolition the beginning of ablight free Council District 2.

The city council has set aside $350,000 from the capital improvements fund and obtained a $200,000 Brownfields grant from the U.S. EPA to pay for the demolition.

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Demolition begins on Clarion Hotel