VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A truck slammed through a piece of local history in Orange City, leaving behind splintered wood, shattered glass, and dozens of guests searching for a place to sleep. The 1876 Heritage Inn is now making repairs after police say a driver, trying to drain water from his truck bed, crashed straight through the building.
The crash happened at the 1876 Heritage Inn on U.S. 17-92 near Blue Springs Avenue in Orange City.
[VIDEO: Vehicle crashes into historic Orange City hotel, displacing over 50 guests]
The hotel serves as an extended-stay residence for dozens, including families, but the hotel was evacuated after the crash.
“(The car) just shot off and rode into the building,” said Christina Rowlinson, who lives at the hotel with her children.
Orange City leaders said the damage to the hotel forced them to temporarily close the building because it’s unsafe. Water and electricity were cut off to the building, and there are questions about the hotel’s foundation, officials said.
The Red Cross was called to assist and said 36 units were affected by the incident, leaving over 50 people, including 11 children, displaced.
The Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at a New Smyrna Beach church about 28 miles away to help those affected by the incident.
“Our only option is an hour away,” Rowlinson said. “I have no car. I have four kids. I have a job I have to go to at 11 o’clock in the morning, and how am I supposed to do all that when I based my life in these 2.5 miles that works for us?”
Georgia Wiseman, who has been displaced from her home described the struggles the family is dealing with.
“I have somewhere we can go to shower, we can eat, but to lay our heads — it’s very hard,” she said.
Wiseman added that her family cannot make it to the emergency shelter at a church in New Smyrna Beach.
“They said it was like 29 miles away in New Smyrna. My tires about to blown out on my van. I can’t take it anywhere,” she explained.
Police said the driver was in the parking lot near the building, lunging back and forth with his truck several times in an attempt to get water out of the truck bed before plowing through the hotel. The driver refused medical treatment and is reported to be okay. He was cited for reckless driving, a misdemeanor.
City leaders said the damage has made the building unsafe, forcing it to temporarily close.
However, owner Stacey Conte said crews are moving quickly and they hope to reopen next week.
“Drawings are being walked over to the city right now for final approval,” Conte said. “To reopen, we have some minor electrical repairs, structural repairs to the wraparound porch, and a small repair to our fire sprinkler system.”
For Wiseman, those repairs cannot come soon enough.
“That would be awesome. I’d love to be able to come back home,” she said.
News 6 was initially told by city officials that the hotel was condemned before later clarifying that the it is closed temporarily.
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