As of April 26, the City of Bridgeport officially owns the decades-old Towne House East Motor Lodge. Actually, with the business no longer operating the city owns the building and the accompanying acreage.

 

The deal was finalized at the above date. City and bank officials went through the process, said Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang.

 

“Everything with the closing went smooth,” said Lang. “We’ve acquired the property, the utilities are all shut off and the intention of the city is tear the building down.”

 

For those wondering, the building is locked down. It is barricaded as well for any curiosity seekers that may want to travel on to the property.

 

“Our next goal is to submit bids to have the building demolished,” said Lang.

 

The building, situated on West Main Street near Twin Oaks, provides rare downtown road frontage and deep property in the rear. The entire parcel covers 2.734 acres and was purchased for $975,000.

 

The cost does not include the price of demolition and Lang said that won’t be cheap. Along with the demolition, pre-testing of the building shows the need for some asbestos abatement.

 

“There is some asbestos in the building, but not a lot,” said Lang. “You’re talking about tiles and caulking and things that are fairly standard.”

 

The abatement and the demolition and clearing the site will run well into the six figures, Lang estimates. He said the bulk of the cost will come from one area.

 

“We budgeted for the acquisition of the building and its demolition. There’s a lot of tonnage that has to go to the landfill and that’s a significant cost factor,” said Lang.

 

Lang said the community can expect to see the building down sooner as opposed to later.

 

“Our goal is to get this done immediately and we have the funds available,” said Lang. “(Community Development Director) Andrea (Kerr) and (City Engineer) Beth (Fox) have been working on the scope of work and making sure there are contractors aware of this. We want to get this out to bid and see the site cleared by summer or early fall.”

 

Council has not made any definitive plans on what to do with the property. However, there has been discussion of a new building or buildings on the site. The city’s governing body has talked about a combined building housing the staff and equipment of the Main Street fire department as well as the city’s police department that is situated in the current Bridgeport Municipal Complex.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the barricaded Towne House property now owned by the city, while Mayor Andy Lang is shown below in a Council work session.