Another of Redding’s downtown motels has gone dark. Everybody has moved out of the Americana Lodge. In April of last year the City of Redding placed responsibility for the Americana in the hands of a receiver. Richardson Griswold was appointed by the courts to be in charge of everything at the downtown motel, from collecting rent to making the many repairs necessary to bring the ramshackle motel up to code. The Americana has a colorful history, to put it mildly. Much of that history involves building, health, and safety violations that have generated countless complaints from their guests. Even after citations, the violations persisted. During a 3 year period from 2012 through 2014 police were called to the Americana nearly a thousand times. Shasta County Superior Court issued an inspection warrant in May of 2015 granting authority to look through the entire property. A large team of inspectors from the City of Redding Code Enforcement, Building Division, Fire Department, Electric Utility, and Shasta County Environmental Health checked all 54 bedbug and cockroach infested rooms for violations and the owners were ordered to correct them. Having failed those orders, the owners were sued by the city and the receivership was ordered by the courts. The receiver determined that there wasn’t enough money available to fix the many problems, so he decided it would have to close. The majority of the guests at the Americana were long-term residents. Some of them have moved to different motels and some to apartments. They each were given a $1000 stipend to help them set up a new place. A Chico developer has made a tentative offer to buy the motel and retrofit it for student housing.