City to Demolish Bellevue Hotel

Demolition of the Bellevue Hotel at Eighth Street and Ocean Avenue will begin within seven days, Ocean City Business Administrator Mike Dattilo said on Wednesday.

Constructed more than a century ago in 1909, the six-story building is a public safety hazard, and city officials want to remove it as quickly as possible. The hotel has been closed for more than a year.

The city awarded a $158,000 contract to Terra Technical Services, LLC, of Downingtown, Pa., to complete the work. The company offered the lowest of three bids on the project

Terra Technical Services is required to have the property fenced in within three days and begin demolition within seven days, Dattilo said. The work could take as long as two weeks.

A traffic safety plan has not yet been devised, but intermittent road closings on Ocean Avenue and Eighth Street near the hotel are likely during demolition.

On. Aug. 26, the Ocean City Fire Department and the Ocean City Police Department responded to reports from a neighbor that a wall of the building appeared to be bulging outward and separating from the roof.

"Further investigation found that the weight from a large volume of water sitting on various parts of the roof was causing stress on the structural elements of the building," Community Services Director Jim Mallon said last week. The Fire Department used portable pumps to remove much of the water.

But more rain caused even further damage, and Construction Official Pat Newton served representatives of the owner, Ocean City Plaza, LLC, with an order to immediately demolish the building. 

Because the owner is unwilling or unable to comply with the demolition order, the city will pay for the project and place a lien on the property to recoup the cost, Dattilo said. The property could not be sold without satisfying the lien.