Jefferson City closes buildings for violations

Jefferson City officials closed America’s Best Value Inn on Jefferson Street and a local business structure on Industrial Drive for multiple violations.

At America’s Best Value Inn, inspectors found life and safety violations, including a non-functioning alarm system, along with compromised fire walls and electrical violations.

Inspectors also found hotels room that were being used as residences.

The motel must remain closed until the violations are fixed.

The Industrial Drive business had a dance club, Club Motivation, on the top floor and a family with children living in the basement.

The owner of the club, Thomas Johnson, says that racial discrimination played into his business getting shut down.

“The people that were living in the basement were the ones not up to city code,” said Johnson. “That had nothing to do with me.”

City manager Nathan Nickolaus said the family was living in an illegally converted basement. He says the family could have been inhaling sewer gas and they were at risk of a fire.

“They had wired extension cords into the main fuse box, they had a lot of open exposed wires, loose wires, some electrical sockets didn’t have covers on them, there was sewer gas leaking into the building,” said Nickolaus.

The building’s owner must not only fix all of the problems, but apply for the correct permits to reopen.

If and when the building is reopened, there is no word if Club Motivation will be a part of it.