Nov. 1—What once was the largest convention hotel in the Joplin area, the 262-room John Q. Hammons Holiday Inn, is to be demolished.

Aaron Gumpenberger, director of the current hotel development company that has held the the property about three years, HDDA LLC, of Nashville, Tennessee, said extensive evaluation was done to determine if it could be remodeled as a Four Points Sheraton property. It was decided that reworking the property was not financially feasible, he said.

At a Friday meeting of the city's Building Board of Appeals, building inspector Jeff Oliver told the board he thought the intent is to tear down the hotel at 3615 S. Range Line Road. After the meeting, Joplin's chief building official, Bryan Wicklund, said city building officials had been told by the developer there had been too much damage to the vacant building to reclaim it.

"They wanted to save it, but due to the cost of it, they determined it wasn't feasible," Wicklund said.

Much of the damage was caused by vandalism, such as the removal of copper wire and metal pipes, Mayor Doug Lawson said.

There also was a 2020 fire in the room that houses the indoor pool where transients set fire to a pile of wire to burn away the insulation so they could extract the copper, firefighters said at the time. Two firefighters evaded injury when they fell into the undrained pool water wearing heavy breathing apparatus that made it difficult for them to pull themselves out of the water.

Gumpenberger said he could not discuss plans for the property. He said company officials are formalizing a business plan involving the property. He said it still holds possibilities at an Interstate 44 exit on Joplin's busiest commercial corridor and alongside property that is being redeveloped for retail, office and housing use along the rebuilt Hammons Boulevard.

"As the owner of that hotel, I think we have the worst hotel in the best location, and we understand what it means to the community," Gumpenberger said.

Though Hammons built his empire of convention hotels and other developments, 240 properties in 40 states, from a base in Springfield, he was born to a family of meager means in Fairview and was a schoolteacher in Cassville before he became an entrepreneur. His Joplin hotel was built in 1987 and became the site of numerous meetings and conventions, banquets, weddings and other hospitality occasions. He died in 2013, three years after his company had renovated the hotel for a rebrand of the Holiday Inn chain.

"I think I have a good understanding of how much this hotel means to the community and the Hammons legacy," Gumpenberger said.

"We have a plan and are moving forward with it," he said. "In three years, this is the best chance this property has had" for future use.

A previous effort to redevelop the hotel under the Doubletree brand by a Florida investor failed in 2016. That developer had spent $6 million to remediate mold in the building and other repairs and had planned to spend another $7 million. Its sister property, the former Joplin Convention Center, closed in 2018 as the result of a bankruptcy of the Hammons business properties. The hotel was also closed.

There is no specified time for the hotel's demolition. The developer said there is still work to be done on the plan for the project.