Shreveport firm low bidder for first Hotel Grim rehab contract
A contract for hazardous materials abatement at the Hotel Grim is expected to be awarded to a company based in Shreveport, La.
With a low bid of more than $1.3 million, Gill Industries is favored to get the contract to remove asbestos, lead and mold toxins from the once-luxurious, now derelict building, the first step in its rehabilitation. Plans are to turn the Grim into a mixed-use space containing affordable apartments, retail shops and offices.
Tim Minson, a project manager with developer Cohen-Esrey Group, opened and recorded the bids at 2 p.m. Monday in a Texarkana, Texas, City Hall conference room. No representative of Gill Industries was present.
A Gill Industries spokesperson did not return a phone call seeking comment by presstime.
Cohen-Esrey staff will double-check that the winning bid is qualified and formally award the contract within 10 days, Minson said. Though he could not be more specific, he said he was confident that work on the Grim would begin in August.
As hazardous materials are cleared, crews will begin structur
al reframing in the building immediately, Minson said.
The Hotel Grim is at North State Line Avenue and West Third Street in downtown Texarkana.
Named after Texarkana banking, railroad and timber magnate William Rhoads Grim, the hotel opened in 1925. At that time, construction cost was nearly $1 million, and the 250-room hotel was luxuriously appointed in marble and other elegant decor. It has been vacant since 1990.