Mayo Clinic to demolish 2nd Street Inn to create a bus turnaround
Aug. 24—ROCHESTER — Mayo Clinic
will soon demolish the vintage 2nd Street Inn & Suites hotel to create a spot for its employee buses to turn around and eliminate Kutzky Park traffic.
Mayo Clinic recently filed three demolition permits for the 2nd Street Inn, formerly known as the
Twins Motel,
at 1003 to 1013 Second St. SW. The three beige buildings are undergoing asbestos abatement with demolition expected to start in mid-September.
Mayo Clinic Director of Community Engagement Randy Schubring explained that once cleared of the 64-year-old buildings, a turnaround area and pass-through road for buses that transport employees from the West Parking Lot to Saint Marys Hospital will be built.
"When completed by year-end, Mayo's employee shuttle buses will no longer need to travel along West Center Street in the Kutzky neighborhood. This location will also be used as a small temporary parking lot," wrote Schubring. "The shuttle buses will use the pass-through route until the planned
LINK bus rapid transit line
along Second Street is operational. At that time, Mayo Clinic employees will use the LINK to travel from the West Parking Lot to the Saint Marys Campus."
Mayo Clinic purchased the 41-room hotel in 1998 for $1.37 million. It continued to operate as a hotel until it closed "due to reduced demand and sufficient alternative cost-competitive hotels" in October 2022, according to Schubring.
Prior to the hotel's closure, the state tourism bureau listed
the daily rates for 2nd Street motel
as ranging between $39 to $59.
Schubring added that a city-mandated "Neighborhood Information Meeting" will be scheduled for mid-September to present the plans to residents who live near the former hotel.
This is the latest of the old-school Second Street hotels to be demolished. In recent years, the
Alpine Inn,
the Bell Tower Inn, the Blondell Hotel, the Ray-Mar Hotel, the Gaslight Inn, the
Colonial Inn
and the
Travelers Hotel
were all torn down.
