City condemns Newland Hotel, south section to be razed

On Oct. 21, 1941, the Webb City Sentinel reported that the city council passed an ordinance condemning the south 40 feet of the old Newland hotel building. Marshal A. J. Bisher was ordered to arrange for the demolition.

This section of the building was considered dilapidated, unsanitary and a fire and health hazard.  Building materials were to be saved and sold to help offset the cost of the demolition. 

Property owner Charles Lanham would be contacted before the order was carried out to give him the opportunity to abate the nuisance. 

The south section still resembled the way it was originally built, with its upper floors intact. Whereas Lanham had razed the second and third stories over the middle part of the hotel in 1940.

The Sentinel reported that the council had been active in recent months securing the elimination of buildings that were eyesores or hazardous to the public.

If you look at the “Newland block” now, the Wig’N Out Boutique and Route 66 Movie Theater are on the north.