Workers use heavy machinery to pile debris from the ruins of the vacant Sands Motel on California Street on Monday. A year after the Socorro City Council condemned the building, the Sands Motel is being demolished.
Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain

Demolition of the Sands Motel began Monday.

Socorro’s City Council condemned the vacant motel last June. Located on California Street, the motel has been a spot where people sometimes seek shelter. Some of the rooms still had beds and mattresses within them. Since 2018, law enforcement has found drug paraphernalia on the property and responded to trespasses, burglaries and a structure fire on the property, according to previous coverage.

Efforts to clean up the property were slowed down when asbestos was found in the building.

Demolishing the building had to wait until the asbestos was remediated. Remediation cost the city $134,000. A certified hazardous waste contractor began that work in May.

The city administration plans to place a lien against the property in an estimated $180,000 to $200,000 range to recoup expenses after the site is cleaned up, according to previous coverage.

The demolition is expected to take a week, said Mayor Ravi Bhasker.

“We didn’t realize there was a swimming pool there, so that’s another thing we’ll have to fill and cover and put a cement cap on it,” he said.

Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain Editor