What should be done with the old Hotel Marysville lot? Have your say
What’s left of Hotel Marysville just won’t go away. But city officials are ready to listen about what should take its place.
To let the public in on the decision-making process, Marysville officials have called a town hall where residents, business owners and community partners may speak out about what the city should do next with the downtown corner lot where Hotel Marysville once stood.
“The old Hotel Marysville is a central piece of our city’s history, and its future must be guided by the voices of our residents,” said Jim Schaad, Marysville city manager, in a news release. “This Town Hall is an opportunity for us to update the community, discuss the (Environmental Protection Agency) clean-up grant opportunity, listen to ideas, and work together toward a vision that benefits Marysville’s future.”
The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at Marysville City Hall on C Street.
A tomb of the old landmark’s rubble and remains — a mound dubbed “Mount Marysville” by some — has covered the property at E and Fifth streets since the building was demolished in January. City officials hired a company to knock down the brick behemoth months after a late-night fire ravaged the building in June 2024, but what to do with the city real estate has remained unclear.
A monthslong legal battle between the city and the hotel owners at the time of the fire stalled the building’s fate for about six months, before the two sides reached a deal that gave the city title to the property and $700,000, while the former owners walked away from responsibility for tearing down or repairing the building.
The property transfer and payment afforded the city funding to knock down the five-story relic — which had been unused and deteriorating for decades — but clearing the lot of its large pile of debris remained a financial and logistical hurdle.
Officials have said that a test of “Mount Marysville” confirmed that the mound was nonhazardous — a concern arising from suspected asbestos in the building after the fire, prior to its demolition — which makes hauling the wreckage away more affordable, but still a potential mid-six-figure cost.
With the city holding title to the land, officials have to decide how to clear the lot and what to do with it.
City officials have recent experience with brokering a development deal for downtown land. Last year, ground broke at a property on B Street near Ellis Lake for which officials had spent years seeking development. That land is now slated for a Hyatt Hotel, Starbucks and Grocery Outlet.
Topics announced for the town hall include an update on the EPA grant application and debris removal; marketing the Hotel Marysville property; identifying potential developers and opportunities; community input and an open question-and-answer period, according to the release.
