(Photo: WBOC)SALISBURY, Md.- The former Thrift Travel Inn on North Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury remains the property of a Texas bank after the bid requirement was not met in an auction Wednesday.
The Thrift Travel Inn was a part of a Tranzon Fox online company auction on Sept. 19, but the minimum $75,000 bid for the property was not met. The United Central Bank located in Garland, Texas, still owns the property.
The City of Salisbury ordered the bank to demolish the structure before the bank tried to sell it at auction. Salisbury Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance Director Tom Stevenson reports that the bank intends to demolish the building by the Oct. 20 deadline and is currently seeking written confirmation of this intention.
Fines will immediately begin if the bank does not demolish the property by the October deadline. If the building remains beyond the deadline, Mayor Jim Ireton will ask the city council for $55,000 to demolish it and will place a lien on the property to recover the cost.
Ireton and other city leaders said they wanted tear the Thrift Travel Inn down because the long-standing motel is an eyesore. The property also experienced more than its fair share of crime and illegal activity through the years. In late July 2009, police conducted a prostitution and human trafficking sting on the Thrift Travel Inn, which led to the arrests of the motel's three managers and a suspected prostitute. That ultimately resulted in the motel's permanent closure.
