Old Joplin Holiday Inn continues coming down

The long-closed site of the Joplin Holiday Inn on the east side of Range Line adjacent to I-44 continued coming down over the weekend.

The motel closed in 2016 but memories of the Water Wheel Lounge and Isadora’s Neon Saloon remain in the minds of many area residents.

Over the years, the closed structure became a gathering site for transients and the homeless. The Joplin Fire Department and police have visited the structure repeatedly.

In earlier years, the Holiday Inn was viewed as Joplin’s premiere lodging site with some of the “rich and famous” checking in including former British Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher.