New owner has plans for I-65 eyesore hotel near Lafayette

BATTLE GROUND, Ind. (AP) - An investment group has bought a long-abandoned hotel that has been an eyesore along Interstate 65 near Lafayette, with plans to strip the building down to its concrete structure in hopes of finding a buyer.

The four-story building that opened in 1972 as a Holiday Inn has been closed since 2003. It has become mold infested and vandalized while the Battle Ground Town Council sought its cleanup or demolition.

Project manager Mike Petty of Illinois-based MGM Rave tells the (Lafayette) Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/2qwX0ke ) the group intends to market the site to hotel operators.

Battle Ground council president Steve Egly says he's glad to see progress on what he calls a "dangerous and ugly place."

Petty says he expects cleanup work to be completed in about a year.

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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com