Demolition delayed for the 'Big E' hotel

OWENSBORO, Ky. - A defunct western Kentucky hotel that was once a popular entertainment venue where famous acts performed has been given a reprieve from demolition, but only a temporary one.

Bids for the demolition of the Executive Inn Rivermont will be taken next month, after companies interested in the job get to inspect what remains after a liquidation sale. Now taking down the seven-story hotel won't begin before mid-August.

Demolition bids had been scheduled to be opened June 26, but that plan was scrapped after demolition companies expressed concerns at a pre-bid meeting, Tony Cecil, Owensboro city operations manager, told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer.

Opened in 1977, the Executive Inn Rivermont with its Las Vegas-style Showroom Lounge had been a venue for nationally known music acts such as Loretta Lynn and the Oak Ridge Boys. The 550-room hotel struggled with financial difficulties and closed a year ago. It was known informally as the "Big E."

National Content Liquidators Inc. of Springboro, Ohio, is selling the contents of the building in a wall-to-wall sale that is scheduled to be finished by July 23. The potential bidders had concerns about what condition the building will be in after the sale, Cecil said.

"A lot of very good questions were asked, and it's always good to be clear on everything to get favorable bids," Cecil said. "There were concerns by the demolition companies about what will be there once the liquidators are gone."

Demolition companies want to be sure about what is left in the hotel and what isn't before they submit bids, Cecil said. Specifically, they want to be sure that valuable items such as copper in the hotel's walls and other places remain, and that large amounts of trash and debris will not be present.

To address those concerns, demolition companies will be allowed to inspect the hotel a final time in early August, well after the liquidation sale is over. Two weeks after the walk-throughs, demolition bids will be opened and within a few days the bid will be awarded.

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Information from: Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, http://www.messenger-inquirer.com

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