Old Overton Business District Icon Torn Down

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Another tattered remnant of old downtown Overton was demolished and cleared away last week. The U-shaped buildings of the Overton Motel were knocked over by heavy equipment crews while the rubble was put into large dumpsters to be hauled away.

The Overton Motel was one of the oldest buildings on the historic downtown main street area. Built in 1946, the old motel continued in operation up until about a year and a half ago. At that point, local businessman Kent Slight, the property’s current owner, said that he was forced to close the facility down.

Slight bought the property about four years ago with the intention of renovating it.
“I bought it with the hope of keeping the property from just becoming another blight in downtown Overton,” Slight said. “I planned to fix it up and keep it in operation as a local business.”
But when he went to the County Building Department to apply for permits the troubles began.

Inspectors came to the property and told Slight that the building was too outdated to be renovated and that it needed to be torn down. They cited old outdated electrical wiring and other issues as the problems with the building. Slight said he had planned to do a major renovation wherein he would replace all the wiring in the building.
“They told me that if I was going to replace anything, that I would have to bring the entire building up to the current code,” Slight said. “That was problematic to say the least.”
At that time, Slight said that the motel had an active business license with twelve rooms still in operation. But County officials shuttered the building completely, with an order that was effective immediately.

Slight said that he appealed to then-County Commissioner Tom Collins to intervene on his behalf.
“Tom was very helpful in getting them to give me a chance to do what was needed,” Slight said.
But the arrangement didn’t end up being very realistic. Slight was given just six months to submit plans, pull permits and get the whole renovation done. This included replacing all the electrical, a new roof and attic structure, new plumbing and more.

Slight was unable to navigate all of the requirements in that period of time. After the six months lapsed, the building was tagged by county staff as condemned.
So Slight spent the past year pulling permits to demolish the structure.
Despite his regulatory difficulties with County staff, Slight said that both Commissioners Collins and Kirkpatrick have been very helpful in trying to resolve the issues.

It is still undecided what will be next for the downtown property. But Slight is confident that, whatever happens, the parcel has significant value.
“It will be one of the last C2 zoned lots on the main street of downtown Overton that is fully developed and ready for construction,” Slight said. “I don’t know yet about a plan for it. It will probably just sit empty for a while.”