REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - The Henlopen Hotel is now missing a chunk right at one of its boardwalk entrances. The city said on Tuesday that it was waiting for a report from its structural engineer.
The City of Rehoboth Chief Building Engineer Matthew Jannis says the damage is primarily cosmetic, not structural damage. He says the building is up to code.
The area of the boardwalk in front of the Henlopen Hotel remains open, but the city is reminding property owners to take responsibility now more than ever after recent tragedies in other beach towns.
It's been almost two weeks since the Champlain Towers went down in the Surfside, Florida condo collapse, but the tragedy is still top of mind, even on the far less severe incident in Rehoboth Beach.
"About 7:30 Sunday morning I received a message from the police chief, Chief Banks, that there was a facade collapse at the Henlopen Hotel," says City Manager Sharon Lynn.
The hotel lost a long chunk off of its boardwalk side on the Fourth of July. Jannis was on scene. He says the building is up to code, but he couldn't say the last time it was inspected.
"That's strictly on the property owner," Jannis says. "Unfortunately right now we do not have codes that suggest any kind of requirements to submit that documentation of those inspections to us. However, we've given some recommendations in light of some recent occurrences."
The city is thankful that no one was hurt in or near the Henlopen Hotel. It's now considering new ordinances and maintenance codes to help give property owners more responsibility.
"We do require annual inspections," Lynn says. "We're intensely looking at that now and if there's anything that needs to be increased as far as enforcement goes."
Lynn says the building remains occupied and offers advice for if anyone has concerns.
"If they see anything, any structural damage, any crack in the foundation then they need to report that and follow up with it and make sure as a group that the owners are taking responsibility and doing something about that," Lynn says.
Lynn says no one has been fined for the building chunk that fell.
WRDE reached out to the Henlopen Hotel multiple times on Tuesday and did not hear back.