The State : Effort to Save Historic Hotel

The Monterey County Historical Society has sued the city of Salinas to block the demolition of the Hotel Cominos, which John Steinbeck visited and wrote about. The suit in Monterey County Superior Court said the city violated state environmental laws when it decided to raze the hotel, which was built in 1874 and originally named the Abbot House. The hotel was renovated, enlarged and renamed in 1919. Once one of the grandest hostelries on the Monterey peninsula, it was abandoned in 1980. The city last month decided to remove the crumbling hotel and replace it with a Steinbeck museum, offices and a parking lot. City officials said no work would begin until the suit is settled.