Lon Morris College Defends Dealings with Motel
Posted/updated on: August 27, 2011 at 7:58 am
JACKSONVILLE — Lon Morris College officials claim the school “engaged in appropriate conduct” in its dealings with a Jacksonville motel last fall. The school is being sued by the motel where the school housed students during the fall 2010 semester. A petition filed in the Cherokee County District Clerk’s office states S.S.M LLC, the company that owns the motel at 1407 East Rusk St., seeks $4.575 million in total damages from the school.
The petition states LMC began negotiations with the motel in 2009, seeking to rent the property to use as dormitory space for students. Conversations for the school to purchase the motel started in spring 2010. In November 2010, school representatives then told the motel’s owners LMC would not purchase the property and would remove all students by Dec. 19, 2010.
LMC used the motel to house about 300 students for the fall 2010 semester. Residents who live near the motel began complaining about excessive noise and other disturbances in the area, to which LMC officials responded by setting a meeting with residents of the neighborhoods adjacent to the motel.
