© 2024 WVIK
Listen at 90.3 FM and 98.3 FM in the Quad Cities, 95.9 FM in Dubuque, or on the WVIK app!
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Economy

Demolition of The Lodge Begins

The Lodge

A Quad Cities landmark will soon be torn down. On Monday a private ceremony will be held to mark the beginning of demolition at The Lodge, formerly Jumers, in Bettendorf.

First opened in the early 1970's, the hotel closed last year and its contents were sold at auction.

Then in December, Russell Construction bought the 8 1/2 acre property at Spruce Hills Drive and I-74, and now plans with the city's help to re-develop the site.  

Early last year, following complaints, the city inspected the building and found more than 200 code violations. They were fixed but it still needed many long-term improvements.

Built in 1973, the Lodge was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2002. Once a prominent, independent hotel serving the Quad Cities, during its last fifteen years, The Lodge struggled to compete with newer, franchised hotels in the area.  

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.