BEAUMONT, Texas — The final fate of the former AT&T building in downtown Beaumont has been decided.
An item on the council's regular agenda for Tuesday afternoon's regular council meeting included that the council would be voting to award a demolition contract for two structures at 555 Main St.. which is the address of the former AT&T building.
The Beaumont City Council voted to award the demolition contract and there are even plans for a new hotel at the site.
It will take 125 days to go through the demolition process. A start date on that timeline couldn't be provided because the city still has to go through an award process, which will take about a month.
The city is also working with Entergy to remove a transformer under the front steps of the building.
City council says the demolition won’t hinder the opening of riverfront park.
They parking lot will be left for the development process and the demolition will cost $756,786.15.
Heavy machinery will be used to take the building down, which would prompt the closure of Main St. and some side streets.
Just last month the city released renderings detailing plans for redeveloping much of downtown including the riverfront and the site of the former AT&T building.
Beaumont City Manager Kenneth Williams tells 12News this will fit into the city's plans for riverfront development.
The saga of the building, just north of the Beaumont Civic Center near the banks of the Neches River, has gone on for nearly five years.
In February 2019 the city tried to buy the building in an auction but lost to developer Tom Flanagan who won the auction and paid $2 million for the property.
The city, in July 2021, released plans for riverfront development including buying the building from Flanagan and demolishing it to make way for the project.
The city then paid Flanagan $2.8 million for the property and the council approved demolishing the building and moving forward with development plans according to file stories.
Less than a year later the council put a hold on those plans after the city received interest from a potential buyer for the building.
In May 2022 the city council put a hold on tearing down the structure about a month after voting to finally demolish it.
A North Texas investor proposed to buy the building and turn it into luxury apartments, with a public gym and rooftop bar but those plans never came to fruition and he didn't buy it.
In March 2023 the city rejected the only bid it received for the building calling it a "way lowball offer." That bid was for $827,000.
Part of the original purchase contract between the city and Flanagan gives him the right to buy the building back for the same price the city paid if they don't demolish it Councilman Mike Getz previously told 12News,