Galesburg plans to demolish Broadview Inn; could take year before wrecking ball swings
GALESBURG — The Broadview Hotel and Restaurant at 29 Public Square is on track to be demolished, based on the Galesburg City Council’s unanimous vote Monday evening.
The abandoned building was identified as a “harbor for illegal activities” and has accrued $11,080 in unpaid fines, fees and water bills according to the council letter. But City Attorney Brad Nolden said it may take a year before the former hotel comes under demolition.
“It can be a lengthy process,” Nolden said. “Some of that depends on how cooperative everyone is. If all of the owners and mortgage holders and everyone wants to cooperate and is fine with us moving forward, it can be accomplished very quickly.”
“We're talking 90-120 days is a very quick scenario.”
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Steve Gugliotta, the city’s Community Development Director, said it might take a bit longer than a year to knock the building down, depending on how quickly the city can obtain a court demolition order, conduct inspections, shut off utilities and schedule bids for demolition.
“It just depends on how the court process goes,” Gugliotta said. “There's a number of other steps we have to take in order to get it down. You know, bid it out, we're subject to the contractor's schedule, things like that.”
The city’s code compliance supervisor has already sent the required 15-day notice to the owners requesting repair compliance. After Monday’s vote, the city can now move forward with a title search to locate any other parties with ownership interest and, if there are no responses, begin court proceedings.
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City Manager Todd Thompson estimated the demolition would cost $275,000 to $325,000. The council letter also outlined there are signs of concrete falling from the face of the building, multiple broken windows and had not had water since 2021, leaving it with no fire protection.
“I've had a couple people call me, 'Are we going to knock that down or are we going to blow it up?'” Second Ward City Council member Wayne Dennis said.
“Because if you blow it up, they want to be down there to watch.”
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Galesburg votes to demolish Broadview Inn; legal steps may take year
