The long-awaited demolition of a Toms River motor lodge that was a magnet for crime before its closing in October will begin in two weeks and could be completed by the end of July, township officials said Tuesday.

“I’m delighted to see it happen. I’m sorry it took so long,” said Mayor Thomas Kelleher.

The Red Carpet Inn, a two-story motel on the banks of the township’s namesake waterway, was purchased for $3 million by the township last year, after voters approved the acquisition and demolition as ways to combat vice and other crime, create open space, beautify a prominent location, and encourage economic development in the sprawling township’s downtown area.

Officials said the demolition was complicated by factors including the building’s location nearly flush up against the intersection of Water Street and County Route 169, also known as Main Street. A short span of Main Street is actually a bridge across the Toms River almost to the line of the motel’s back wall.

To mitigate traffic impact at the busy intersection, officials said demolition would take place at night.

The work is to begin following the required 10 days notice the township must provide state officials of the asbestos removal that is a precursor to the demolition, plus another few days for the removal work itself.

“About two weeks from now, that’s what we think,” Township Administrator Don Guardian said Tuesday, referring to the start of demolition. A $345,000 contract for the demolition job has already been awarded to Site Enterprises of Egg Harbor. Guardian said the contract requires Site to finish the job within 60 days, but that the firm told him during a meeting Tuesday that it was confident the job would be completed by the end of next month.

Because the site is within the Toms River flood zone — much of downtown was under water during and after Hurricane Sandy — officials said nothing will be developed in the motel’s place, other than open space that will include a riverfront walkway, landscaping, and a berm, or earthen mound, that will act as a kind of levee against future storms.

A temporary berm will be built up within a week of the demolition’s completion, Guardian said.

Officials said the two-story motel had generated 750 calls in the two years prior to the Township Committee’s vote in February 2018 authorizing a total expenditure of up to $4.8 million on the purchase and demolition of the motel, and the creation of the park, berm, some added parking and other work.

Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little had branded the two-story lodging, "a magnet for criminal activity," that included illegal drug sales, theft, fraud and assault. A single raid in October 2017 resulted in the arrest of 11 men and four women on drug charges.

“I would say one of the most significant aspects is that the crime in the middle of downtown has pretty much evaporated,” said David Roberts, Toms River’s planning director, who said the motel’s demolition is part of the township’s plans to remake its Downtown Waterfront Redevelopment Area.

The bridge portion of Main Street leading into the intersection with River Street comes from the south, and a small island in the river occupied by the township‘s Huddy Park. The park also occupies a strip of land along River Street, just south of Main, and removal of the boxy motor lodge will link the three sites as open space.

“It’ll open up views of the river, and it effectively expands Huddy Park across the bridge,” Roberts said.

The council had authorized the use of the township’s power of eminent domain to seize the 50-room hotel and pay the owner its appraised value. However, Kelleher said a deal was struck with the owner, Kartik Patel, and the process was not necessary.

Demolition of the Toms River Inn, seen from above on the southwest corner of West Water and Main Streets, could be completed by the end of July, officials say.Google

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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