Truman Hotel owners say community criticism prompted building’s demolition
Olivia Hayes
EDITOR’S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct information about the Puri Group’s purchase of the property.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Nearly a decade after its closure, the Truman Hotel is coming down.
Puri Group Enterprises, the building’s owner, said Tuesday that criticism from the community over the deteriorating building was the motivation behind the move.
“We get continuous harassment from people around the city that the Truman building is old, it is decrepit, it needs to be torn down. Just harassment continuously,” said Raman Puri, president of Puri Group Enterprises.
Jefferson City Mayor Ron Fitzwater describes the old hotel as a once “vibrant facility.”
“There were a lot of events done in that facility. There was a restaurant called Bingham’s, there was a kind of music area in the hotel that was the hot spot for the Capitol and people at the Capitol,” Fitzwater said.
Plans were in place to redevelop the building. The Puri Group purchased the hotel from Jeftel, Inc., according to a group spokesperson.
“We tore down half of the old Truman Hotel and developed a new hotel, and the remaining buildings there were closed down at that time because we were redeveloping a new product,” Puri said regarding his group’s original plans with the building.
However, the hotel never reopened, becoming vacant in 2015 and being declared dangerous in 2020.
“Unfortunately, the agreement that was signed didn’t have any termination dates saying ‘this will be built by a certain date,'” Fitzwater said.
Fitzwater said he and city staff found out about the building demolition on Monday, with the rest of the Jefferson City community.
“On Saturday, one of our staff saw the equipment parked behind the building getting ready for it, so that kind of got the buzz going over the weekend, and then yesterday the excitement really started,” Fitzwater said.
He feels like the possibilities for what the Puri Group could do with the land, following demolition, are endless.
“There’s 100-plus associations based in this community, plus all of state government and other organizations in town. So we know that it’ll be utilized,” Fitzwater said.
Puri said the demolition is privately funded and will cost $1.2 million. He said his group had to take out loans to pay for it.