December 18, 2009

The wrecking ball could knock down the Executive Inn as early as next summer.

Paducah moved one step closer Friday to finalizing the purchase of the hotel and to the planned demolition when the commission approved the settlement of nine liens for $185,772, about half of their face value.

The only remaining task is expected Wednesday, signing documents transferring ownership. As soon as the paperwork is signed, the city will provide security to prevent break-ins, vandalism and fires, and winterize the hotel’s fire sprinkler system to prevent breaks and major water leaks.

Building Inspector Joel Scarbrough said the sprinkler system will not be charged with water.

“It means that someone will have to physically turn a valve if there’s a fire,” Scarbrough said.

Because the plan is to demolish the hotel, the city will not buy property insurance, but it will have liability coverage, City Attorney David Denton said.

Downtown Development Director Steve Doolittle said documents also are being prepared to solicit bids to liquidate the hotel’s furnishings and equipment, and for the demolition.

A liquidation contract is expected to be awarded by early February.

“I don’t anticipate a public auction in which we’d have people walking through the hotel and gathering to bid on items,” Doolittle said. The successful bidder will be required to remove all items.

Doolittle said he couldn’t estimate how much the city will receive because furnishings such as beds and televisions are old and many were purchased when the hotel was built 27 years ago.

The demolition specifications are being modeled after those used by Owensboro to raze its Executive Inn, Doolittle said. Demolition bids are likely to be awarded in June or July. It is likely to take a year or more for the site to be cleared and ready for a new hotel.

No timetable has been discussed for soliciting proposals for a new hotel that would be the anchor for the Julian Carroll Convention Center and Paducah Expo Center.

The city is buying the hotel for $1.8 million from Logan Asset Backed Fund, which foreclosed on a $3.5 million mortgage it held with owner Bhupinder Singh. The Florida company will lose $1.7 million plus accumulated interest and penalties of about $1 million.

Mayor Bill Paxton said contractors that held mechanic’s liens for work done this year to open the hotel for the quilt show have signed settlements for 50 percent or less of the face amount.

The company and amounts are:

West Kentucky Elevator Services, $9,494; Consolidated Mechanical, $20,270; Premier Fire Protection, $30,881; Bill Barnhill & Associates, $26,363; Robert Williams Inc, $233; Electronic Service Co., $62,771; KW Communicat ions, $15,000, and Interior Solutions,
$7,600.

Peck Flannery Gream & Warren held a court judgment for $26,460, but settled for $13,230. It did design work for Singh’s renovation of the hotel’s penthouse suite.

The city will later settle with Paducah Power System and Paducah Water for delinquent bills, Doolittle said.