Wally Kennedy: Holiday Inn demolition underway

Sep. 15—At one time, it was the flagship of Joplin's fleet of hotels. Now, it's a pile of rubble.

About half of the John Q. Hammons Holiday Inn was brought down this week by B&D Yard Builders of Joplin. The restaurant, lobby, bar, kitchen, meeting rooms, offices and the area that featured the water wheel have been dismantled.

The company is separating the metal into piles so that it can be recycled.

A spokesman for B&D said another company will be taking down the five-story tower where the rooms are located. It was not clear when that would happen or when the demolition would be completed.

The John Q. Hammons Holiday Inn, 3615 S. Range Line Road, was once the largest convention hotel in the Joplin market.

It had 262 rooms with nearby access to the Joplin Convention Center, another Hammons property.

The demolition follows an evaluation that showed it was not financially feasible to rework the property because of extensive vandalism after its closure in 2016.

Hammons built his empire of convention centers and hotels — 240 properties in 40 states — from his headquarters in Springfield, but he always had close ties to Joplin.

Born in Fairview, he was a schoolteacher in Cassville before he became an entrepreneur.

In response to the 2011 tornado, Hammons organized a company-wide relief fund involving 9,000 employees to support the staff and families affected by the tornado.

The inn's rooms provided immediate shelter to hundreds of displaced families and disaster response teams in a coordinated effort that involved all of Joplin's hotels.

Opening in June 1979, the Joplin hotel was the site of meetings and conventions, banquets and weddings. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary there. I can't tell you the number of meetings I covered there as a reporter for this newspaper. If there was an important announcement to be made of any kind, it was made at the Holiday Inn.

Hammons died in 2013, three years after his company had renovated the hotel for a rebrand of the Holiday Inn chain. An effort to redevelop the hotel under the Doubletree brand failed in 2016. The Joplin Convention Center closed in 2018 as the result of a bankruptcy of the Hammons business properties. It is now home to a company that sells travel trailers.

You know, Joplin is pretty hard on its hotels. At the beginning of my career as a reporter, I covered the demise of the Connor Hotel in downtown Joplin. It was the grandest hotel that Joplin has ever seen and, like the Hammons Holiday Inn, it was a place where news was made.

A book has been written about the Connor, its history and the people who stayed there.

I doubt a book will be written about the Hammons Holiday Inn, but one could be. For one, it was an award-winning Holiday Inn — best in its class. The guest list over the years included Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, first lady Barbara Bush and Colin Powell, among others.

A lot of Joplin's history took place there.

Delayed opening

Orlando Bevilacqua needs a little more time to transform the former Carmine's Pizza into the New York Pizza & Deli at 524 S. Joplin Ave.

Bevilacqua was planning to open his new restaurant this weekend, but it's taking more time to get some details under control than he anticipated. He now thinks an opening is possible later this month, possibly Sept. 25.

Bevilacqua has owned and operated Wiseguys Italian American Comfort Foods, 3702 E. Seventh St., for the past seven years.

Spirit Halloween returns

Spirit Halloween, a super spooky store, pops up about this time every year in anticipation of the Halloween retail season.

The store opened last Sunday at Northpark Mall in the department store that Sears once occupied. Spirit Halloween supplies decorations, costumes, props and accessories.

Owned by Spencer Gifts, it is the largest Halloween retailer in the U.S., operating as many as 1,400 seasonal pop-up stores in Canada and the U.S.

Hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Circus time

The Do Portugal Circus will offer shows under the big top this weekend at the south end of Northpark Mall.

The shows are 11/2 hours long. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children.

Shows are scheduled for 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday.

Is it deli time?

A new deli is coming to central Joplin. Details to come.

Contact Wally Kennedy at wkennedy@joplinglobe.com.