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Source: The Times, Munster, Ind.儲存Oct. 13--GARY -- The long-vacant Sheraton hotel in Gary could finally be coming down.Bids for work to demolish the structure are set to be opened and read at a meeting of the Gary Redevelopment Commission at 4 p.m. Wednesday.A demolition date will be set by the company that gets the job, but early spring is a likely timeframe, Gary Director of Communications Chelsea Whittington said.Officials will know more about the cost of the demolition when bids are opened, Whittington said. Earlier, unofficial estimates put the price at between $1.2 million and $1.3 million.Funding will come from a combination of sources, including Community Development Block Grant money, Whittington said.A $350,000 EPA Supplemental Brownfields grant obtained by the city is earmarked for the work, she said.Another $200,000 in Regional Development Authority funding has been awarded to help fund the project."We think it's a catalytic project," Regional Development Authority CEO Bill Hanna said.The hotel had become a symbol reflecting lack of investment in the downtown, Hanna said."To be able to remo迷你倉e it will offer new opportunities going forward and a different view of the downtown," Hanna said.The RDA awarded the funding from its recently established Regional Challenge Fund. Of the total, $150,000 is earmarked for demolition and $50,000 goes to professional services involving environmental issues, Hanna said.Asbestos remains embedded in parts of the building, officials said earlier.The 14-story, 300-room hotel opened in 1968 as a Holiday Inn and later was purchased by Sheraton.As Gary's population and business capital moved out of the city, the hotel failed. Its last guest departed in 1985.Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said last year the building, at Fifth Avenue and Broadway, was an eyesore and blights an important gateway to the city.She announced last spring she intended to demolish the hotel to prompt a rebirth of Gary's once-thriving downtown.The space created by the demolition will be converted to a green-space project, such as a park, she said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Times (Munster, Ind.) Visit The Times (Munster, Ind.) at .nwitimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage