Demolition of condemned Executive Inn in Rock Hill gets under way

After a delay that pushed any action past a legal deadline, the demolition of a motel condemned by the city of Rock Hill is now under way.

The front office of the Executive Inn was demolished Tuesday, after work to remove asbestos from that and other buildings on the Anderson Road site took longer than originally anticipated.

Timothy Dickerson, owner of D.L. Hauling and Grading, said demolition of the entire motel will follow in phases, about two to three weeks after an asbestos removal team clears each section of the 50-year-old building of the dangerous material. Abatement work is expected to last four to five weeks, he said.

“Right now, we’re separating out the scrap metal from the rest,” Dickerson said after most of the building, which included the check-in lobby and a former restaurant, had been brought down. “Most of that will go to the York County landfill, and the bricks and concrete will go to the recycling center, and they’ll grind it up.”

The facility was condemned in October after city building inspectors declared the property to be “unfit for human habitation.”

An agreement between the city and Executive Inn owner Punam Patel called for the motel to be demolished by April 1, but inspectors discovered more asbestos than expected and work was delayed.

The agreement called for Patel to tear down the motel in exchange for the city’s dropping eight pending municipal court charges alleging maintenance violations at the hotel. Patel still has a scheduled court date of April 13, but city officials said the asbestos discovery counted as an “unforeseen circumstance” that will allow the agreement to be extended until June.

Patel declined to discuss the delay or his pending court case when reached by phone Tuesday.

“It’s demolished, that’s it, go away,” Patel said.

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Demolition of condemned Executive Inn in Rock Hill gets under way."