Historic Peoria hotel being torn down after decades of disrepair

PEORIA — The old Julian Hotel on Southwest Adams Street is being torn down after sitting in a state of disrepair for decades.

Located at 724 SW Adams Street, the Julian Hotel has been vacant since 2002 after federal housing officials found numerous safety violations with the building.

Built in 1895, the hotel had other names over the years, including the Ray Hotel, Grace Hotel, Mitchell Hotel and the Home Run House.

One room in the building used to be called the "Richard Pryor Room" because it is said to be where the famed comedian and Peoria native stayed when he was first starting out in comedy.

On Tuesday afternoon, demolition crews from Baldovin Construction had the entire back end of the old hotel torn down and were still working to bring down the rest of the building.

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Community Development Director Joe Dulin said Baldovin applied for the demolition permit for the site about a month ago.

Baldovin Contruction purchased the property in July from the Downtown Development Corporation for $250,000.

Its former owner, Kelly Petersen, once had plans to turn the building into a luxury apartment complex with underground parking included, but those plans never came to fruition. In 2020, he sold the building to the Downtown Development Corporation for $150,000.

The Julian Hotel occupied a prime piece of real estate in Peoria's growing Warehouse District. It sat across the street from Dozer Park and the popular Zion Coffee. Behind the Julian Hotel sits the Winkler Lofts residential complex on Washington Street.

Baldovin Construction, too, has a lot of stake in the Warehouse District's growth. It is behind numerous construction projects in that neighborhood, including the Adams and Oak residential development.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Julian Hotel in Peoria torn down after years of disrepair