Photo courtesy of Michigan.org
BATTLE CREEK, MI (WNWN/WTVB) – Battle Creek Unlimited is clearing out the old McCamley Plaza hotel so that a major renovation can take place.
A liquidation sale that is being handled by Simply Sales and Service of Dearborn starts next Wednesday, April 14 on just about everything left in the hotel.
Those items include paintings, chairs, kitchen items, catering equipment, furnishings and beds.
The sale will be conducted in person on the first floor with COVID-19 protocols and social distancing in place.
It was originally announced in November of 2019 that the facility was being closed for six months so that it could be converted into a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
How Rush Limbaugh Came to Be on WBCK, Battle Creek
Rush Limbaugh-EIB Network Photo
Back in 1991, I’d been at WBCK for a little over a year doing the Mid-Day show. The Program Director, a giant and jovial guy with a big voice named Smokin’ Joe Dawson, called me into his office and said, “What do think of this guy, Rush Limbaugh? I’m thinking of putting him on WBCK”. I said, “Who is Rush Limbaugh?”
At that time, WBCK was at 930 on the AM dial. Dave Eddy was the Morning Mayor, and Tom McHale was the News Director. I was on from 10 am to 3 pm. Dave Eddy hosted “Midday Magazine” from the McCamly’s Roof Restaurant inside the Stouffer Battle Creek Hotel, from noon to 1 pm. The station was also local from 3 pm to 7 pm. Talknet came on, live via satellite after that, and the station had syndicated programming until 5:30 am. In those days it was a radical idea for a local station to put on a nationally syndicated program during the day
40 years ago, the Stouffer Battle Creek Hotel opened, and was the centerpiece of a spurt of downtown development that hasn’t been seen, until recently. Back then, Bob Miller, Sr., publisher of the Battle Creek Enquirer had just retired and set his sights on working, through the Miller Foundation and the community to update Battle Creek’s downtown. Voters approved a merger of the city and Battle Creek Township, Kellogg built a world headquarters, and soon the W.K. Kellogg Foundation would build a new downtown headquarters. Many old buildings were sacrificed, as the downtown took on a very different look. Since then, there have been a few projects, but momentum toward another makeover has been steadily building. One of the chief players in that effort has been Battle Creek Unlimited. (BCU).