By Glenn Rolfe

SEAFORD — City officials are hopeful the Seaford Inn, currently a condemned Sussex Highway property that has been a target of vandalism and vagrancy, will soon be renovated and repurposed.
The four-story hotel complex is the former Holiday Inn Express. The property owner is Galaxy Hospitality LLC, which was incorporated in July 2011.

“We have been in regular communication with them through our code department. When the facility was closed, it got broken into. There was some vandalism. We worked with them to secure the structure,” said Seaford City Manager Charles Anderson. “We have been working with them for the last couple years on that.

Utilities were shut off due and the city condemning the structure in part due to water damage caused when frozen pipes burst.
Lately, there have been some signs of life. Galaxy Hospitality indicated “they want to remodel and get it back functioning,” Mr. Anderson said.

On several occasions, personnel were sent down to clean the facility and cut the grass. A contractor started doing demolition on the fourth floor about two weeks ago, tearing out dry wall and insulation “in anticipation of obtaining a building permit and remodeling the facility,” Mr. Anderson said. “That stopped.”
Recently, the building was broken into again. City code enforcement and public works staff went in and resecured the door.

“We are continuing to await the building permit, the renovation plans,” said Mr. Anderson. “We would like to see that occur sooner rather than later.”

Efforts to contact Galaxy Hospitality LLC were unsuccessful.