BY Clint Wolf - August 10th 2024

 

 SOUTH BELOIT

A dozen companies submitted bids for the demolition of the Garden Hotel, which was condemned by the Winnebago County Health Department in September 2019.

Bids for asbestos abatement and demolition of the hotel building at the corner of Highway 51 and Gardner Street were read Friday morning at South Beloit City Hall.

The South Beloit City Council will review the bids and possibly award the contract to one of the companies at its Aug 19 meeting, said Chris Dopkins, of McMahon Associates, who read the bids at the meeting Friday. Dopkins now will review the bids to make sure all the bids meet the requirements for the project.

“Chris will go over the bids with a fine-tooth comb and determine the lowest responsible bid,” said South Beloit City Administrator Sonya Hoppes.

She said she was pleased to have 12 companies show interest in the project.

Dopkins said if all goes well and the weather cooperates, demolition could be complete by the end of the year.

“We expect to start in September and we hope to have most of it gone by December. If we have weather delays, we will finish it up in the spring,” Dopkins said.

The Garden Hotel at 200 Dearborn Ave., suddenly closed in March of 2019. The Winnebago County Health Department condemned the building in September of 2019. Since that time, South Beloit employees have been boarding the property up and maintaining the grounds. There have been several break-ins at the property and in one case there was a fire inside the building.

On March 28, 2024, Winnebago County Judge Ronald Barch approved a demolition order for the property and issued fines against the hotel owner New Chapter Group and its president Dr. Zhanhai (Michael) Zhang. The demolition order stated the building was unsafe and beyond repair, and if the owners did not begin demolition in 30 days, the city could begin making arrangements for demolition and seek reimbursement from the hotel owners.

Hoppes said the hotel owners have not contested the demolition order, but they are in the process of appealing the foreclosure order on the property, which was issued in February.

Bids on the project included:

  • Fischer Excavating — $1,981,915
  • N-TRAK Group — $1,645,022
  • Fowler Corp. — $1,943,000
  • Bulldog — $3,500,000
  • Northern Illinois Service Company — $1,594,575
  • Corporate Contractors Inc. (CCI) — $2,107,090
  • Veit — $1,458,946
  • Milburn LLC — $2,390,000
  • Green Demolition — $1,348,000
  • American Demolitions Corp. — $1,641,200
  • Rezzar Demolition — $1,494,875
  • Dore Associates — $1,939,100.

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