The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley The City of Elkins began the demolition of the former Four Seasons Motel on Monday afternoon, taking down a big section of the building by the end of the day.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Brad Johnson
Allegheny Excavating, LLC began the process of demolishing the former motel-turned apartment complex on Harrison Avenue in Elkins Monday afternoon.

Allegheny Excavating, LLC began the process of demolishing the former motel-turned apartment complex on Harrison Avenue Monday afternoon, with a large portion of the building having been leveled by Monday evening.

Elkins City Property Maintenance Code Official Jessie Kittle was on the scene Monday morning, speaking with workers. Multiple police cruisers parked across the street from the demolition site for some time Monday afternoon.

The bidding for the demolition was opened in July after the City of Elkins bought the building in May. Elkins City Property Maintenance Code Official Jessie Kittle previously told The Inter-Mountain that whoever was picked to do the job would only have 30 days to complete the demolition.

“Probably the most important thing is that they have a 30-day window once I give them the go-ahead to tear (the Four Seasons) down,” Kittle told The Inter-Mountain in July. “That was made very clear in my bid packet.”

The city plans to transform the property into a greenspace or welcome area, officials have said.

Purchased by the city for $135,000 on May 8, the acquisition of the property was finalized “following confirmation that all former tenants had permanently vacated the premises,” Kaye told The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement.

On April 22, the building was found “unfit for human habitation” and condemned by Elkins City Code Enforcement, due to the water in the building having been turned off on April 15 at the request of the property manager, Elkins City Clerk Sutton Stokes told The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement.

Stokes said that Code Enforcement notified the property owner on April 16 that water service would have to be reestablished “within 48 hours” to avoid condemnation of the building.

Stokes said that, on April 22, after verifying that water service had not been reestablished, Code Enforcement, supported by the Elkins City Police Department, posted the building with notices of condemnation, and “verified that all occupants had vacated the premises at that time.”

“The property manager stated one of the primary reasons for (the property manager’s) request (to turn off the water) was that piping had been removed from the building,” Stokes told The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement. “By action of condemning it as unfit for human habitation, it’s now illegal for anyone to occupy the building.”

Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco also confirmed that the building had been condemned by the city, and that officials had been informed by the property manager that the water in the building would be turned off due to “pipes being stolen.”

“The property manager came in and told our treasurer (Tracy Judy) some of the pipes had been stolen, so he was going to have the water turned off,” Marco told The Inter-Mountain in May. “I think we waited five days for them to turn it back on. Normally we do two (days), but because of Easter, we waited until the following Monday… and it wasn’t turned back on, so we had to condemn it.”

Marco confirmed with The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement that city council voted to give him the authority to sign a contract for the purchase of the Four Seasons property from former property owner Don Smith, in an executive session during their November 21, 2024 meeting. The contractual agreement was unanimously ratified by the council during their Jan. 9 meeting.

Residents of the Four Seasons Property received eviction notices on Dec. 31, 2024, drafted by Smith’s attorney, Mike Mullens. Notices were served by the Randolph County Sheriff Department with assistance from Elkins City Police Department, Marco told The Inter-Mountain in a previous statement.

Elkins City Hall released a press statement on Dec. 31 in response to rumors and questions about the property and the city’s plan to buy it.

According to the release, Smith had owned the property since 2012 and granted Bruce Howell authority to operate the property to provide residential rental living units, with Howell functioning as a “landlord.”

Marco said in a previous statement that the land contract between Smith and Howell was dissolved in 2024 due to “several violations that were not corrected.”