A dangerous eyesore is finally coming down at 1613 E. Salisbury Drive.
"Nasty things have happened in there," said Margaret Cruz, who lives across the street.
"Police were here all the time," Cheryl Dressback told 41 Action News.
Independence police say they've seen some crazy things while responding to calls at the former Beauty Rest Motel.
Now it's a series of abandoned, rundown shacks.
It's a place that neighbors say wasn't bad "back in the day" but just kept getting worse and worse.
The lot is littered with broken glass, doors hanging off the hinges and trash left behind from transient renters that most wouldn't want living across the street. It was a cesspool of dangerous activity even before it was shut down a year ago.
It's now the "Beauty Rest In Peace" motel. @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/gCDcx7MXuI
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) August 20, 2016
Independence City Council Member Curt Dougherty is leading the effort to get rid of it once and for all.
The city got ahold of the property title this summer. The previous owner hadn't renewed the license in years, and had back utility payments.
"We've had a lot of police calls with people who are drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves and people wanted by the law," Dougherty said.
The health department found rats, roaches, asbestos and lead paint inside some of the small shacks.
"You were afraid to let your grandkids out in the front yard," Cruz said.
Finally neighbors are getting the results they want. They came from all over Saturday morning, bringing out their lawn chairs and cell phones to watch the start of a new beginning.
Folks getting out their lawn chairs to watch the demolition @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/E0TIT1KQCX
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) August 20, 2016
Some took turns swinging the giant sledgehammer into one of the structures. A backhoe from Junior's Construction company waited nearby.
"They wanted this gone. They couldn't get the owner to clean it up. If the owner had just taken care of it, had better renters, I don't think there would have been such an outcry," Dougherty said.
The backhoe's claw ripped into the roof and walls, and the crowd erupted into cheers and clapping.
"I'm so excited I just can't believe it," Dressback said. "I think it's really going to improve the community."
Now Dougherty says it'll forever be referred to as the "Beauty Rest in Peace Motel."
A court injunction was filed so that the previous owner can never operate a motel at that location again.
The city wants to build a couple of single family homes in its place, after it's all torn down in two weeks.
Drugs, theft, prostitution all here. @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/oRDZbvntUm
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) August 20, 2016
Dougherty says the health department is handling the asbestos disposal, and that it's not serious enough to affect neighbors.
Independence City Council just launched a new program called Rental Ready that aims to hold renters at a higher standard. Rental property owners who register with the city will be required to get third-party inspections that have been qualified with the city.
"We're going after derelict property," Dougherty said. "If you don't get them cleaned up, we're coming with a sledgehammer to do it for you."
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Sarah Plake can be reached at Sarah.Plake@KSHB.com
