VIDEO: USA Hotel demolition begins to make way for Mercedes-Benz

USA Hotel will soon be nothing more than a memory.

Demolition equipment arrived on the site of the once troubled hotel in Fort Mitchell Tuesday morning to begin the process of knocking down walls and removing debris to make way for a new Mercedes-Benz dealership. The hotel should be completely torn down by Friday.

"We're thrilled to see that place gone," said BJ Sanders, a Fort Mitchell resident who lives near the hotel. "I got a three-year-old and a six-year-old, and having that hotel there wasn't exactly the ideal place to have your kids grow up in front of."

The USA Hotel closed in December 2011 after receiving multiple citations for city code violations and being a common place for police to show up on calls related to drug deals and prostitution, according to Fort Mitchell officials.

"One time we found a needle on the sidewalk," said Sanders. "It was always sketchy, sketchy stuff going on it seemed like."

The Collection Auto Group located in north Ohio approached Fort Mitchell late 2012 to propose a Mercedes-Benz dealership at the location. The dealership is set to host a grand open by mid October.

"It's just absolutely stunning to see," said Dan Bell, marketing manager for Mercedes of Fort Mitchell. "You get used to driving passed a facility after so many years and to see it, in the matter of seconds, it all come tumbling down."

The building was originally scheduled to be destroyed on Monday, February 18, but due to some electrical and water concerns the project was delayed by 24 hours.

"It's great to see it gone," said Sanders.