An abandoned hotel in southwest Omaha caught fire Tuesday night, prompting renewed calls from city officials and neighbors to demolish the building that has been the subject of ongoing legal battles.
Firefighters responding found evidence of previous fires and unauthorized occupants inside the vacant structure, according to the Omaha Fire Department.
"This is exactly the reason that we need to demolish this building is that too much can go wrong, there's really no reason for the city to put our firefighters at risk to go out on a cold night and put out a fire in a building that really needs to be demolished," Council member Don Rowe said.
Rocky Capella, who lives in an apartment complex next to the hotel, said he's concerned about the potential for a larger fire.
"That is concerning, especially since I was asleep when that happened and I have a dog, so yeah, yeah, yeah, I do, especially after that fire, but and it and it does need to be torn down," Capella said.
The city approved funding to demolish the building in November, but a judge put that decision on hold. Rowe said the city has since given up on negotiations with the property owners.
"We just told them that we were kind of done, we were ready to just move forward with the demolition and we weren't really interested in negotiating any time extensions or anything like that," Rowe said.
Capella said the situation has become frustrating for neighbors.
"It's just like counterproductive at that point. Yeah, it's standing here doing nothing," Capella said.
Attempts to reach the building owners, New Port Blue Impact, were unsuccessful. A representative from their business agency said they cannot put callers through directly to clients and directed inquiries to be sent via email. The company is also represented by an Omaha law firm, which did not respond to requests for comment.
The city and building owners are scheduled to appear before a judge again on Feb. 12 to determine the building's fate.
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