Inn Demolished to Make Way for Resort
Wrecking crews and city officials took the first swings of the sledgehammer to the vacant Huntington Beach Inn on Friday, clearing the way for a mammoth resort complex.
The 35-year-old inn has been abandoned since 1990 when the partnership that owned it went bankrupt.
The Robert Mayer Corp. will begin construction on a resort that was also in limbo during the economic downturn of the early 1990s.
The new resort, set to open in the summer of 2000, will be called the Hilton Ocean Grand Resort and Conference Center. Plans call for a 517-room luxury hotel, health spa, conference center, shopping complex and residential area. The project, next to the Waterfront Hilton Beach Resort, will spread from Huntington Street to Beach Boulevard.
City officials joined with officers from the Robert Mayer Corp. to take symbolic swings at the old inn.
“It’s a great day,” Robert Mayer said. “I had tears in my eyes.”
Mayor Shirley S. Dettloff said the old inn had served the city well in its day.
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