The sign for the former Comfort Motel on North Main Street, along US-131, on the north side of Three Rivers.

“They’re definitely going away.”

These are the words of Doug Kuhlman, enforcement officer for Lockport Township, following action by the Lockport Township Board Monday evening (December 14th) to uphold the Dangerous Structures Hearing Officer’s decision to demolish the old Comfort Motel buildings on North Main Street, near US-131.

According to Kuhlman, certified letters have been sent out to the property owners and the order states that they have 14 days to remove the structures.  Otherwise, the township will go in and remove them and place the costs involved as a special assessment on their taxes.  Doug_Kuhlman audio clip (:28)

When asked about the anticipated cost for demolition, Kuhlman said, “I’m not sure where that is.  I know we’ve recently done some single family homes that have been anywhere in the area of  $4,000 to $7,000 so I’m going to guess this is going to be in the neighborhood of between $10,000 to $20,000 to remove those.”

The old Comfort Motel is destined for demolition in the near future following action by the Lockport Township Board Monday evening.

During an interview on Wednesday, Kuhlman said he had just sent out requests for proposals to eight excavating companies to give him a price for demolition.  He said the proposals will be back by the end of December, after which he will review them and “take it to the board next month for their decision to award the bid to a contractor.”

Kuhlman said the township, by law, has to wait 60 days so it will be the latter part of February before the demolition can occur.  That being the case, he said, “I will not award that bid until our 60-day timeline is up that we can legally go in and remove those structures.”

Kuhlman said, “The township has already signed the Order to Raze and I have sent that out to the property owners so that determination has been made and that’s final.  It’s now just the timeline that we have to follow in order to get rid of them.  They’re definitely going away.  It’s just whether they do it or we do it.”  And, he added, “We have not been able to even locate one of the owners so I fully intend that that’s going to be handled by the township.”

Kuhlman said, “I can pretty much guarantee you that those buildings will be gone by March 1st.”

To hear an interview with Doug Kuhlman, recorded by Bruce Snook of the River Country Journal, click here (5:10).

Editor’s Note:  This story was updated at 12:35 p.m. 12-17-09 to add two pictures and the link to the Order to Raze PDF.