Demolition crews have turned the six-story Bellevue Hotel into a pile of rubble at Eighth Street and Ocean Avenue, and trucks are continuing to haul away the debris.

In an update to City Council on Thursday (Oct. 11), Ocean City Business Administrator Mike Dattilo said the debris removal had been slightly delayed as the contractor worked out landfill issues.

The city awarded a $158,000 contract to Terra Technical Services, LLC, of Downingtown, Pa., to complete the work. The abandoned hotel had been declared unsafe in early September, and officials ordered its immediate demolition.

But on the second day of demolition (Sept. 28), a worker's blowtorch likely caused a fire on the upper floors of the century-old building and led to a massive firefighting response and the immediate demolition of the rear portion of the hotel.

In Thursday's update, City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said the contractor was insured, and the city is in the process of evaluating what charges could potentially be included in a claim.

In response to an earlier question from Plymouth Place resident Richard Tolson, Dattilo said the city has no cause to order two outlying buildings on the same property to be demolished.

A permanent fence will ultimately be placed around the vacant property.

The hotel was constructed some time before 1907, though an exact date remains unclear, according to the Ocean City Historical Museum.