Evansville resident Elmer Buchta says, “There’s been, I guess you would say, two or three false starts. You know the neighborhood gets excited and thinks it’s going to happen and then it didn’t happen.”

But Wednesday brought renewed optimism for both neighbors and officials that the hotel’s comeback will in fact happen.

Vandeburgh County Building Commissioner Ron Beane says, “Well, they’re going slow, it’s a long process and we’re just working with the owner. He’s done some major things. He’s done quite a bit of demoing of the annex and so now he’s just ready to really start all the renovations.”

Demolishing the annex improved the condition of the building but not enough to make it pleasing to the eye.

Beane says, “It’s an eye sore for the neighborhood as it is now so I’m sure they’re all tired of looking at it.”

Vandalism and neglect left the interior of the building down to just the studs. Between that and new underground utilities being put in, a lot has been going on to fix the inside of the historic hotel. And soon the outside should match the inside.

Beane says, “We are moving forward and we are starting to see the exterior of the building and should start seeing in the next few weeks that being changed. At least the exterior will be done first so that it looks a lot nicer for the neighborhood.”

With only rumors of late summer, early fall 2018 end date to go on. Neighbors say they are excited to see something finally being done to match the surroundings.

Elmer says, “I’m tickled to death to see that it’s actually happening and I think long term it will be great for the neighborhood.”

But they are excited that some progress is being made even if it’s slow progress. 44News spoke to the building owner who was at the job site.

He told 44News his crews will be working full bore until the boutique hotel is ready to open once again.