EVANSVILLE - A building plan to renovate the downtrodden former McCurdy Hotel on Evansville’s riverfront recently gained approval from the state, and a local official is hopeful The Kunkel Group soon will be able to secure financing to start the project.
The Kunkel Group’s earlier building plan for the McCurdy had expired, requiring the company make changes reflecting new state standards. The Indiana Building Commission signed off on the blueprint June 6, a necessary step for the developer to obtain financing, said Evansville-Vanderburgh County Building Commission Director Ben Miller.
Ben Kunkel, president of the Kunkel Group, has said the company’s plan is for a 96-unit apartment building, with a renovated ground floor that includes retail space and an event area.
Last year, Kunkel estimated the cost would be $12 million. He wasn’t available for comment on Tuesday.
Kunkel is to appear before the City-County Building Commission on Sept. 11 and give a progress report on the McCurdy project. Miller said his recent conversations with Kunkel regarding the McCurdy have been upbeat.
“Our hope is by that point they have a good update,” Miller said.
The eight-story McCurdy Hotel opened in 1917 at a cost of $550,000. Its construction was linked to completion of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum on Court Street. Some of its guests have included Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable, Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon, according to historicevansville.com.
Business declined, and the once-opulent hotel fell into bankruptcy before closing on March 16, 1969. Robert Green bought the property and reopened it, but in October 1970, he sold it Medco Corp., which turned it into a residential facility and retirement home, according to the website. It was sold again in 1989, becoming the McCurdy Healthcare Center.
The property ceased operations in June 2006 amid several violations from the Vanderburgh County Health Department. It has sat vacant ever since, and its condition has continued to deteriorate.
In May 2012, the Evansville Redevelopment Commission voted to give notice of default on a deal with City Centre, an Indianapolis firm that failed to restore the McCurdy.
That was when The Kunkel Group took over the project, and its plans included assuming the $800,000 incentive provided to City Centre.