It was a soggy Thursday morning and Austin LaViolette, Great Bend property maintenance enforcement manager, was heading out to mow the overgrown grass and weeds at the dilapidated former Highland Hotel. This wasn’t the first time he or city crews have had to maintain the property at 3017 10th St.

In fact, the property is among the Great Bend properties to be abated by the City Council Monday night for accumulation of trash and refuse. Last known as the Great Bend Hotel and Convention Center, the once local landmark located at 3017 10th St. has fallen into disrepair.

“We’ve been mowing it,” he said. “Someone has been cleaning stuff out,” but this could be the owners or it could be looters, he didn’t know.

There are broken windows, weeds have been allowed to grow and other maintenance has not been done, City Sanitarian Austin LaViolette said. Even after city personnel have fought back the vegetation, it is still an eyesore.

A stack of old televisions on the east side is the key item causing the request to abate Monday, he said.

This marks the second time the property has made the abatement list. It was also abated in the summer of 2018. 

There are other problems: The swimming pool has been full of standing, stagnant water; many windows have been broken out; items have been stripped from inside the rooms and outside walls; and there have been homeless people squatting in some of the rooms.

The Police Department have run routine checks of the building to help curtail illegal activities, Police Chief David Bailey said.

The abatement is another step toward making something happen with the property. The city inspector and code enforcement officer continue to monitor it as well.

If a structure is determined to be unsafe and dangerous, notices must be sent, a waiting period followed and a public hearing held before the city can proceed. However, should it be ruled unsafe, it could be the city that winds up having to have it torn down, city officials said. 

Those expenses would be charged to the owner, but may never be paid.

The owners of record are Springfield, Mo.-based Retreat at Great Bend LLC. and Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada-based Bar-None Construction. Both are listed on the on the abatement request.

The owners have maintained they still plan to develop the property into a time-share resort. 

History

The Highland Manor opened in 1964. The addition of the convention center and office complex came in the 1980s. 

However, it changed hands several times over the years. The Highland became the Holiday Inn, the Parkside Hotel and finally the Great Bend Hotel and Convention Center which closed four years ago.

In June 2011, the City Council approved utilizing $500,000 donated by an anonymous group of local residents to purchase the convention center separately from the hotel. This portion has been remodeled and developed into the city’s Events Center.

It was set to be auctioned off during the Barton County tax sale last October, but the owners came in just under the wire and paid over $143,000.

The property has an appraised value of the property is $548,060, $521,900 for the land and $26,160 for the building, according to the Treasurer’s Office.