LUCERNE ? Drivers on Highway 20 saw much the same thing Lucerne residents stopped to look at Monday morning: piles of rubble that used to be the Lucerne Motel.
An excavator from Jackson Equipment in Middletown rumbled among the piles, swinging its yawning, clawed bucket to tear the approximately 63-year-old structure apart a piece at a time and arrange the piles of debris. Property owner Robert Affinito hired the company to meet a May 18 deadline to demolish the motel and its neighbor, the Lake Sands Resort.
“I”m glad to see it gone,” Affinito said, watching the excavator work. “It”s been a nightmare from day one. It”s an old building, and it costs more to repair it than it does to demolish it.”
The Lake County Board of Supervisors in December gave Affinito six months to tear down the two blighted hotels, located on less than an acre along the Clear Lake shoreline. Lake County Code Enforcement officer Kimberlee Heckard said the department posted an order to abate on the property April 15.
Affinito said he plans to build a Choice Hotels mainstay hotel, geared to vacationers staying between three and seven days at a time. There will be between 40 and 60 units, depending on how much parking he can procure. Affinito said he”s working with the county to use parking at the Lucerne Community Center next door to the Lake Sands.
The new hotel will span both properties. Affinito said he”s planning to demolish the Lake Sands as soon as he can, depending on the results of asbestos testing done last week.
The county-ordered abatement involved finishing work Affinito began in December to destroy the buildings and accompanying, unsafe dock structures. The buildings were considered substandard, according to Heckard. She said Heckard began in December by removing outdoor storage, docks, piers, landings and part of a seawall.
“They are uninhabited because of their dilapidated state,” Heckard said.
The motel used to house at least six permanent residents, according to Lucerne resident Michelle Caboara, who stopped to point out the location to her 3-year-old son, where she lived when he was born.
“I”m going to miss it. We used to live there with about six people, and we were really close-knit. It”s sad to see it go,” Caboara said.
Nancy Pruett, who owns property across the street from the former Lucerne Motel, guessed her property value might go up after the demolition.
“The view is going to be much nicer now,” her husband, Dennis Pruett, said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
