It's been a plan a few years in the works, but this week life was once again seen at the former Michigan National Bank building in downtown Port Huron.
Workers popped by windows, others threw debris down a shoot to a dumpster at ground level, with portable toilets inside the fenced-in area. Demolition has begun on the nearly $15 million boutique hotel.
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Chuck Reid, owner of Charter House Innovations, CityFlatsHotel and Sperry's Moviehouse, said he expected demolition to be completed by the end of February.
"Once we start we like to complete it quickly," he said in an email. "We fully expect to be complete in fall of ’18. We push pretty hard so we can start generating revenue!!!
"Honestly, the biggest part of the project is the demo, once it is cleared out our contractors will find a nice environment to build our new hotel rooms! My contractors will probably disagree!!"
The hotel at 800 Military St. will include 35 hotel rooms, a ballroom, meeting space and a small restaurant.
"I cannot wait to see the finished hotel and ballroom. It looks fabulous in the renderings and, as is our custom, we tend to make subtle improvements during construction," Reid said.
"I am a visual type guy and can better design it when I can see and inhabit the space. This is my favorite part of the process, designing and building something completely unique and something we think the entire community can be proud."
Reid said renderings were not yet being made public.
Reid originally proposed developing a boutique hotel at the former Sperry's building on Huron Avenue in April 2014. But plans changed after he bought the bank building.
CityFlats Hotel opened its first location in Holland, Michigan, in 2008. That hotel has 56 rooms, a bistro, lounge, coffee spot, conference rooms and a digital theater.
A Grand Rapids location opened in 2011 in the former Fox Jewelers Building in the city's downtown with 28 rooms, a bistro, bar and a ballroom.
Sperry's Moviehouse celebrated one year of operation in downtown Port Huron in December. Reid has announced plans to open a second Sperry's Moviehouse on the west side of the state in the future.
Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @lvshepard.