The erstwhile three-story Griswold’s Hotel is finally coming down.

Pieces of the long-vacant building are slowly being taken apart by construction crews, in a relatively small space just north of the Buca di Beppo parking lot. The entire roof and most of the top floor is gone, and pieces of wood are piled up at the foot of the building to be collected for recycling.

According to construction crews at the scene, the heavy duty work is expected to begin in the next week.

The portion of the hotel is being demolished to make room for a 30-unit condominium building and a 240-space parking garage, which will become the newest addition to the Old School House center, according to the city.

In July 2107, plans were approved by the city council, 11 years after the specific plan was approved in 2006 and after multiple changes to the design.

The three-story residential building will be placed at the current site of the parking lot directly north of the hotel. The parking garage, part of which will go underground, will replace the hotel’s footprint.

The plan also calls for a new private road, to be built along the north end of the new condo building and extended behind Candlelight Pavilion to Indian Hill Boulevard.

—Matthew Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com