For the second time in eight months, the Super 8 hotel in Pevely has been at least partially shut down by government officials.
The hotel, at 1711 Hwy. Z, was fully shut down last week over state officials’ concerns about water heaters in the building. On Oct. 18, 2022, Pevely city officials closed much of the hotel due to structural concerns.
However, the owners, Pevely Hospitality Group, obtained a restraining order Nov. 1, 2022, in the Jefferson County Court that allowed them to reopen the second and third floors after having a joist installed to shore up the building.
The Pevely City Council voted to revoke the hotel’s business license Nov. 21, 2022, over the structural concerns and other public safety concerns, but because litigation over the license revocation remains active, the hotel had been permitted to remain open until the state shut it down this month.
Hotel general manager Shaiq Amir, whose family owns the hotel, said he believes the state could have handled the problems with the water heaters without forcing his family to evacuate the hotel guests and close the doors.
The recent shutdown began the afternoon of June 22 when Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) and Jefferson County Health Department officials inspected the facility and said there was a problem with the hotel’s water heaters, creating danger for those staying there.
Lisa Cox, spokesperson for the DHSS, issued the following written statement about the hotel’s shutdown.
“During an inspection of the facility, DHSS and the Jefferson County Health Department observed health and safety concerns associated with water heaters,” Cox said. “DHSS brought those issues to the attention of the Department of Public Safety’s Division of Fire Safety Boiler and Pressure Vessel Unit. The exhaust venting was found to be in violation and creating a dangerous situation for those in the facility. The Division of Fire Safety suspended the operating certificates for the three water heaters immediately. The owner agreed to evacuate the building, and local officials were able to find alternative locations for those individuals who needed long-term stay accommodations.”
Amir said he had to force the occupants of at least 35 rooms in the hotel to vacate. The hotel offers 62 rooms.
He said he immediately responded to fixing problems the government officials found as soon as he was alerted to them, but does not know how soon he will be allowed to resume normal hotel operations.
“I told them I’ll be done with their major concerns by the middle of the week (the week of June 26),” Amir said Monday. “After I get the repairs done, I will call the state officials to come back to inspect. It looks like I will be done with the major concerns (he estimated by June 27) and with all their concerns by the end of this week.”
However, he said he does not know when government officials will allow him to reopen the Super 8.
“It looks like I’ll be shut down for at least a couple of weeks,” he said.
He said he is not happy with the treatment he has received from the officials.
“I’m at their mercy,” Amir said. “The people from the state were showing me a very rude attitude.”
He said he does not understand why he could not continue to operate the hotel while the necessary repairs are made and he traces the heater area problems back to the structural problems he had repaired at the building.
“This was a mistake of my contractor,” Amir said. “He was supposed to take care of this. From October to March (Pevely) officials checked out the hotel. Apparently, some time ago some duct work was removed from the heater areas that should not have been removed. We’ve never had any emergencies during that time. Detectors would have gone off. We could have stayed open while the work is done.”
Amir said he feels the Pevely Super 8 has been unfairly singled out by government officials.
“The last time they shut me down, I lost over $200,000 in revenue,” he said. “All those things businessmen are supposed to do, I am doing. I don’t know what I did wrong. My reputation’s better. My employees are happy working for me. Why me? Why are they always giving me the maximum sentence (forcing the closure of all or part of the hotel)?”
Pevely Police Chief Mark Glenn said some of his officers were on hand when the hotel was evacuated.
“We were there in more of a support role,” he said.