About Town

Lakeview Motel's Date with the Wrecking Ball Under Way

Demolition began Thursday on the 60-year-old business, which had been condemned after being badly damaged in a September fire.

It’s finally coming down.  The grin on Plainfield Building Official Dean Marquez's face spread from ear to ear as he watched a bulldozer rip hunks of roof from the old Lakeview Motel on Thursday morning.  “It’s been an eyesore for years,” Marquez said.  The 60-year-old Lakeview Motel, located at U.S. 30 and Renwick Road, was destroyed by a fire last September. In the days before chain motels and interstates, for that matter, it had been a mainstay of people driving cross country on the old Lincoln Highway. In recent years, however, it had become a transient motel with people booking inexpensive rooms that could be rented by the day or week. Marquez condemned the motel and all but one of its outbuildings not long after the fire and it was …

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About Town

Lakeview Motel Not Long for This World; Demolition Date Set

Fire severely damaged the 60-year-old business in September, and the owner is no longer fighting to rebuild it.

Plainfield’s only motel is scheduled for the wrecking ball.   The 60-year-old Lakewiew Motel at U.S. 30 and Renwick Road, destroyed by a fire last September, will be torn down Feb. 2, village officials say.  After condemning the motel and all its outbuildings last fall, town leaders have been in talks with the owner, Piyush Patel, about its fate. Patel has agreed to pay the demolition costs, they say.   Officials won’t be sorry to see the remains of the Lakeview go. Situated in one of Plainfield’s most hotel-friendly corridors with access to Interstate 55, many have seen the Lakeview as an eyesore since the fire.  “It should really brighten up that area,” Mayor Michael Collins said.  No word whether Patel plans to rebuild or sell. But the …

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Recession Dooms Any Chance of a Hotel-Motel, Village Officials Say

With the Lakeview Motel destroyed by fire last fall, the village has no options for someone who wants to spend the night.

It’s not that there’s no room at the inn.  The problem with Plainfield is there is no inn at all.  Not long ago, the village was one of the fastest-growing towns in the country. At last count, it has more than 37,000 people living in nearly 70 subdivisions.   Plainfield boasts nearly every big box retailer you can name, more than 60 restaurants dishing up everything from chili dogs to sushi, and a huge array of specialty shops, including coffee houses, gift boutiques, even a comic book store and exotic pet shop.   But if you’re looking to spend the night, you’re out in the cold.  Despite the massive growth and its close proximity to Interstate 55, the town doesn’t have a single hotel. Its one small mom-and-pop operation, the 60-year-old …

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Lakeview Motel Demolition Sought by Village Building Official

The owner of the fire-damaged motel maintains part of the building can be salvaged, but hasn't decided if he will fight the condemnation.

Whether the owner hires someone to do the work or the village does, the fire-damaged Lakeview Motel will be torn down, Plainfield Building Official Dean Marquez said Tuesday. The 19-room motel at U.S. 30 and Renwick Road was declared uninhabitable by Marquez on Sept. 24, four days after a suspicious fire broke out in an unoccupied room and quickly spread to other rooms and into the building's roof. Marquez has since condemned the building, meaning it cannot be rebuilt and must be demolished, he said. Owner Piyush Patel, however, is still weighing whether he will appeal that decision. His lawyer has told Marquez that his client believes that units at both ends of the motel can be made habitable and thus do not need to be demolished, Marquez…

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Fire Nearly Destroys Lakeview Motel

Source of blaze is under investigation; maintenance manager says he believes a disgruntled tenant may have set it deliberately.

The Lakeview Motel was severely damaged in an early morning fire that may have suspicious origins. Plainfield Police Cmdr. John Konopek said the blaze started in an unoccupied room at about 1 a.m. today and quickly spread into the roof of the 19-room motel on U.S. 30 at Renwick Road. Investigators were on the scene this morning in an attempt to determine the fire's source, he said. About two-thirds of the building was damaged, and two guests -- a woman in her 30s and her teenage son -- were treated for minor smoke inhalation, Konopek said. The damage is estimated to be $300,000 to $350,000, he said. The motel is uninhabitable and the long- and short-term guests staying there, estimated to be about 10 people, have been relocated to other …

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