Salina City Commissioners unanimously awarded a bid for debris removal of the former Ambassador Hotel at 1616 West Crawford Street to Diehl Enterprises in the amount of $782,411.00.
In December the City denied a request by the owner to reduce landfill fees for the debris, from the $96-per-ton rate for loads consisting primarily of rock, concrete, or masonry to $48-per-ton.
Based on City records, the last documented landfill disposal receipt associated with demolition debris removal from the site is dated March 25, 2025. Since that time, no additional debris disposal activity or other measurable progress toward completion has been observed. As a result, staff has determined that diligent prosecution of the ordered demolition effectively ceased in spring 2025.
Since that time, the City continued to engage with the property owner and the owner’s representatives to achieve compliance. In August and September of 2025, the City formally notified the owner that no measurable progress toward completion had occurred and advised that failure to resume and maintain progress of the demolition could result in further enforcement action, including a show cause hearing and City-initiated completion of the work at the owner’s expense.
Those notifications allowed additional time for the owner to assemble and submit required materials related to its pursuit of approval from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for alternative debris disposal options. Despite these efforts and extensions, debris removal was not completed, and the site remained in a partially demolished condition.
The hotel first opened in Salina in 1986 as a Holiday Inn Holidome. Along with 192 rooms on a couple of floors, it had meeting space, a pool and waterslide, a sauna, and a restaurant. The Holiday Inn was later rebranded as a Ramada Inn, before then becoming what was known as the Ambassador.
