A long-standing eyesore just off Interstate 135 on West Crawford Street in Salina has finally been wiped clean. The demolition and debris removal project for the former Ambassador Hotel site is complete, bringing a temporary close to years of blight and public frustration.

Originally opening its doors in 1986 as a Holiday Inn Holidome, complete with 192 rooms, a pool, a waterslide, and a restaurant, the property later transitioned into a Ramada Inn before ultimately becoming the Ambassador. However, the property fell into severe decline, closing its doors in mid-2020. Over the following years, it accumulated dozens of building violations for crumbling infrastructure, mold, and stripped plumbing.

City officials initially pushed for the property owner to handle the structural remediation themselves. When those private efforts stalled, the city stepped in to oversee the demolition.

With the massive mound of rubble finally hauled away, the city has placed a lien on the property to recoup the upfront costs. This lien will be integrated into the property’s taxes as an abatement.

While the prime real estate sits vacant, Salina City manage Jacob Wood tells KSAL News  the path forward will likely follow a familiar bureaucratic timeline.

If the property owner continues to neglect local property taxes, procedures typically span four to five years before a property heads to a sheriff’s sale or potential city acquisition. In the interim, Wood anticipates the City adding the vacant lot to its routine community weed and grass abatement mowing cycles.

Though the owner retains the right to sell or redevelop the parcel, Wood expects the high-visibility lot to remain an empty space for the foreseeable future, probably four or five years. 

For now, neighbors and travelers along West Crawford Street can celebrate the removal of the decaying structure, turning the local landmark into a clean slate.