A local landmark closes today, but the general manager says it will only be for several weeks.
Ray Stoddard says the Lodge Hotel and Conference Center in Bettendorf, formerly Jumer's Castle Lodge, is closing for what he calls "preparation for the pending sale and re-development of the site." It was built over 40 years ago, and now requires significant structural and mechanical improvements that can only be done when there are no guests.
Earlier this year, following complaints, the city inspected the building and found more than 200 code violations. City administrator, Decker Ploehn, says the life safety violations have been fixed, but there's still a lot of long-term improvements that should be done.
Ploehn says the decision to close temporarily was voluntary by Lodge owners, and the city supports it.
But he does not yet know what re-development plans might be in the works.
Built in 1973, the Lodge was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2002 and was once a prominent, independent hotel serving the Quad Cities. But Stoddard says for the past fifteen years, it's struggled to compete with newer, franchised hotels in the area.
