GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — A troubled hotel in Greenwood has been slated for demolition.

This isn’t your ordinary hotel building. For years, officials in the Johnson County city have been fighting to tear it down.

Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said, “I’m extremely excited. You know we’re going to have this nice area now that can be developed. There’s nice businesses right beside it, so it’ll be a great thing for the community.”

City officials say the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites, located southeast of the intersection of Emerson Avenue and East Main Street, closed down in October 2022. But, officials say, troubles began when the business just west of I-65 was hit with nearly 200 critical violations in June 2021.

The Republican mayor outlined some of the concerns: “People breaking in since it’s been closedm lighting grills inside. People living in there stealing stuff out of it.”

Officials say from mid-June 2021 through January 2023 police, fire and emergency medical services personnel paid 289 visits to the property. “Drug trafficking, domestic issues, a lot of things like that, and it’s cut down on our run load quite a bit,” Myers said.

Erin Betron, a Republican on the Greenwood City Council, said, “It’s still a place where there can be some vagrant activity or some other crime-related activity that we just don’t want in that area.”

Myers says they’re planning to demolish it early next week. He says Ray’s Demolition bought the property in late 2023 with the intent to sell it. Ray’s Demolition, based in the Hendricks County town of Clayton, is working with the city on the next steps for the site.

The mayor said, “I would like another hotel in there. We’re short on bed space as it is. That would be a great place for a higher-end hotel right off of the interstate. There’s about 8 acres of ground there that can be used and developed.”

City leaders say a new hotel would align with the city’s vision to revitalize the area.

Betron said, “I just hope that people will support the demolition and the work that gets done afterward. I know that everybody is kind of excited to see what happens next and what’s going to go in there, and I think that that’s good. It’s good for the community.”