VANDALIA — The Super 8 Motel along I-75 in Vandalia, condemned by the city a year ago, is open again and people living nearby aren’t happy about it.
>> Tenants at Super 8 in Vandalia evicted after city shuts it down because of safety violations
But the new owner tells News Center 7 the business will “chart a new path” and hopes the community will give him a chance.
Frances Carmack, who with her husband live just across a fence from the rear of the motel, said long-term tenants trashed the area the last time the Super 8 was in operation.
“They party on those decks, throw the beer cans and the bottles over my fences, I mean it’s a nightmare,” Carmack told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell on Wednesday.
“No, God no. No,” she said when asked whether she was optimistic about the Super 8′s fresh start under new ownership.
Vandalia City Manager Dan Wendt said the motel had people living there for two years in some cases and tenants disabled smoke detectors. With all the health violations, he said, along with rising crime, it became unsafe and an awful drain on city resources.
The city shut down the Super 8, but the city wanted to fix the place.
Now, under a consent decree between the city and the new owner, “When a person checks in, now they are required to present and ID and a credit card,” Wendt said of one of the requirements laid out in the decree. Other requirements include trespassing the former operators, requiring staff to complete training and identify criminal activity, and hiring a security officer for certain hours.
>> RELATED: Vandalia, new owner, sign agreement to reopen condemned Super 8
Neighbors said they will have to see a change to believe a change.
“The past history was terrible,” said Debbie Cooper, whose family also lives just over the fence from the Super 8. “Police were there constantly.”
Cooper and other neighbors said they believe they will have to keep the pressure on city leaders to make sure conditions that are maintained are acceptable. Carmack went so far as to say she plans to regularly attend city council meetings to make sure the city and new owners keep their promises.
“It’s one of those deals,” Cooper said. “if you have to do it, let’s make it work right.”
Making it work right is what new owner Khalid Chaudhry (Ja-leed Chow-dree) told News Center 7 he intends to do, as there are new smoke detectors installed and better water supplies inside.
He said he hopes the community will give his staff a chance to prove they can be good neighbors. There’s a soft opening going on this week -- with discount room rates -- and Chaudhry is hoping for a full opening in two to three days.
“It’s going to be completely new management,” he said. “The old management is gone. They’ve been fired, so totally new from now on.”
Chaudhry said he thinks the Super 8 will chart a new path.
“We’re trying to not repeat those mistakes,” he said. “This property will be safe.”
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