SOUTH TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Spanish Trail motel used to be the pride of South Tucson. Now, it’s not. It’s a burned-out hulk and the City of South Tucson is suing the owner to try to force him to clear it out.
The Spanish Trail Motel is a charred shadow of the days when it had the prestige of a place that could bring in national entertainment acts. It closed in the 1990s.
A series of fires left it beyond repair and a health risk because it was built using toxic asbestos.
It’s become a magnet for crime and homelessness.
The City of South Tucson slapped the site with code enforcement complaints, now its latest move to try to force the owner to clear the lot is a lawsuit. It asks a judge to declare the motel wreckage a public nuisance and order it cleared out.
South Tucson Councilmember Brian Flagg calls the motel remains a blight that needs to go.
“The people are going to make it cease to exist, and we're going to, like redevelop the area, bring revenue in, strengthen our cops and fire and hopefully bring do some economic development, along with housing that will serve the people that live here now.”
Owner Brian Bowers says he wants to clear the site and turn it into something positive but a series of plans have fallen through.
He says a man with a grudge set the most recent fires, was arrested and quickly released.
Bowers says he’s tried to secure the building.
“We do have security here from two in the afternoon till six in the morning. We had that place locked down. All the doors were screwed shut. It was boarded, it was fenced. But you know, you've got these people that just want to get inside somewhere and have somewhere to stay.”
Clearing the site will be a big, expensive, job. Special handling because of asbestos will make the job bigger. Now a judge may decide if the city of South Tucson can force a clean up to happen.
The lawsuit says if the owner does not clear the property, the court should put the land in control of a receiver appointed to get the job done.
——-
Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
