City Of Marion Wants Ownership Of Maid-Rite Building

Many residents of Marion, myself included, were sad when the Maid-Rite restaurant closed back in 2017. It was a staple of uptown Marion, located at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 10th Street. So years later, when investors purchased the building and promised a Maid-Rite would someday return, Marion residents were more than willing to wait. Well, residents are now tired of waiting and the city of Marion is taking action.

CBS2 reports that the city of Marion is taking the owners of the Owen Block building to court. They are asking that the property be turned over to the city, and call the current building an "eyesore." For 30 years the building was the home to a Maid-Rite restaurant, and despite promises of a new restaurant, the building has now sat empty for six years. CBS2 reports that the city claims that the building is uninhabitable and broken windows have exposed the interior of the building to the weather.

As you can see in the above image, there were big plans for the new Marion Maid-Rite location. CBS2 reports that Marion City Square LLC is the owner of the building. The company is owned by Joe Hill of San Jose, California, and Jamie Hoth of Marion. They promised a new Maid-Rite restaurant would be built. Now, the building which was also damaged during the 2020 derecho, sits empty. CBS2 reports that Hill claims that he and Hoth no longer see eye to eye on the project and that he actually agrees with many of the city's accusations.

A hearing in the case has yet to be scheduled.

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