Marysville Hotel plans previewed,
as city contemplates its demolition
MARYSVILLE (3/27/03) -- New owners of Marysville Hotel told City Council members Wednesday they hope to make the old hostelry "the palace it once was again."
Tod and Doreen Zimmerman's enthusiasm for renovating the Jazz Age hotel into medical offices were dampened, however, by two skeptical city council committee members.
Even as Mayor Dirk Helder and Jerry Crippen wished the Zimmermans luck with the endeavor, they moved to recommend the full council approve a $110,000 environmental impact report needed to demolish the town's most sentimental landmark.
The meeting was the first time the Paradise couple has dealt face-to-face with council officials. Helder pressed them for details of their plan and a timeline for accomplishing it.
There was no timeline yet, since they only purchased the building in December and escrow only closed March 23, the Zimmerman's said.
Early talks with Mercy Housing to convert the hotel into senior housing and doctors officers with grant funding had proved fruitless, Doreen Zimmerman said.
Instead, the Paradise couple was proceeding a plan to remodel the five-story hotel into prime medical offices, possibly aligned with Rideout Memorial Hospital and the University of California at Davis.
Their tentative plan included restoring the first floor as far as the elevators, but converting the rear part into a double-decker parking structure.
The idea is to provide potential tenants with a "cold shell" -- a modernized shell without interior appointments -- rather than the "warm shell" with finished interiors as other speculators have proposed.
Cutting that corner could lower the anticipated cost of construction from around $14 million to about $8 million, Tod Zimmerman said.
"Lenders are knocking on our door," Doreen Zimmerman said. She later explained that such interest stemmed in large part from current low interest rates and Sacramento growth spilling towards Marysville.
"We don't want to scare you," but the hotel was a "nuisance" and an "eyesore" and the city had been trying for eight years to address its condition, Helder told the Zimmermans.
"We want it fixed up or torn down," he said.
To that end, the city expects to move ahead with the demolition EIR -- although it would delay calling for the actual destruction if the couple's plans run into trouble -- Helder said.
"We want to be poised to act," Crippen chimed in.
Meantime, the city is prepared to take over the property through eminent domain, or possibly use police powers to order its demolition if the building should be deemed unsafe.
The Zimmermans pointed out that engineering reports in city files indicated the hotel, although boarded up, was structurally sound.
Such determinations were "changeable issues," city engineer David Lamon remarked.
Their own engineer was expected to tour the hotel in to inspect it for an immediate clean-up of the first floor. A project plan and a timeline for it would likely be ready by May, the Zimmermans said.
as city contemplates its demolition
MARYSVILLE (3/27/03) -- New owners of Marysville Hotel told City Council members Wednesday they hope to make the old hostelry "the palace it once was again."
Tod and Doreen Zimmerman's enthusiasm for renovating the Jazz Age hotel into medical offices were dampened, however, by two skeptical city council committee members.
Even as Mayor Dirk Helder and Jerry Crippen wished the Zimmermans luck with the endeavor, they moved to recommend the full council approve a $110,000 environmental impact report needed to demolish the town's most sentimental landmark.
The meeting was the first time the Paradise couple has dealt face-to-face with council officials. Helder pressed them for details of their plan and a timeline for accomplishing it.
There was no timeline yet, since they only purchased the building in December and escrow only closed March 23, the Zimmerman's said.
Early talks with Mercy Housing to convert the hotel into senior housing and doctors officers with grant funding had proved fruitless, Doreen Zimmerman said.
Instead, the Paradise couple was proceeding a plan to remodel the five-story hotel into prime medical offices, possibly aligned with Rideout Memorial Hospital and the University of California at Davis.
Their tentative plan included restoring the first floor as far as the elevators, but converting the rear part into a double-decker parking structure.
The idea is to provide potential tenants with a "cold shell" -- a modernized shell without interior appointments -- rather than the "warm shell" with finished interiors as other speculators have proposed.
Cutting that corner could lower the anticipated cost of construction from around $14 million to about $8 million, Tod Zimmerman said.
"Lenders are knocking on our door," Doreen Zimmerman said. She later explained that such interest stemmed in large part from current low interest rates and Sacramento growth spilling towards Marysville.
"We don't want to scare you," but the hotel was a "nuisance" and an "eyesore" and the city had been trying for eight years to address its condition, Helder told the Zimmermans.
"We want it fixed up or torn down," he said.
To that end, the city expects to move ahead with the demolition EIR -- although it would delay calling for the actual destruction if the couple's plans run into trouble -- Helder said.
"We want to be poised to act," Crippen chimed in.
Meantime, the city is prepared to take over the property through eminent domain, or possibly use police powers to order its demolition if the building should be deemed unsafe.
The Zimmermans pointed out that engineering reports in city files indicated the hotel, although boarded up, was structurally sound.
Such determinations were "changeable issues," city engineer David Lamon remarked.
Their own engineer was expected to tour the hotel in to inspect it for an immediate clean-up of the first floor. A project plan and a timeline for it would likely be ready by May, the Zimmermans said.
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