116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cooper’s Mill contents sale to begin Thursday
CEDAR RAPIDS - The dismantling of a longtime west-side staple, Best Western Cooper's Mill, is set to begin Thursday.
National Content Liquidators plans to sell off the furnishings and equipment of the 82-room hotel and restaurant favorite at 90 F Ave. NW, which closed during the September 2016 flood and never reopened.
Fans can buy 32-inch flat screen TVs for $125 a piece, a restaurant booth for $135, a king-sized bed for $250 complete with mattresses, frame and headboard, $1,800 for your own personal restaurant-sized pizza oven or a cool $3,950 for full-service lock system.
It's anyone's guess how long an old bar-wall hanging of 'Vinnie's Man Cave Mug Shots” chart will last. You can have that for $5.
'It'll all sell, but every town is different for what will go fastest,” said Greg Hall, sale manager for Springboro, Ohio-based National Content Liquidators Inc., which is handling the sale. 'It could be the beds, it could be the lamps. You never know.”
The liquidation sale will open at 10 a.m., Thursday, and continue for 30 days until everything is sold out. The sale will be open to all, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Buyers should use the restaurant entry.
National Content Liquidators was contracted by the city of Cedar Rapids to clear the contents before demolition. Cedar Rapids previously contracted the company to liquidate the downtown Crown Plaza-Five Seasons Hotel in 2011.
Images of select sale items are available online at www.nclsales.com under the current sales events heading. Other sale items include LG flat screen TVs, Simmons Beautyrest queen bed sets, chest micro-fridge combo units, writing desk and desk chairs, upholstered arm chairs with ottomans, lamps, mirrors, drapes, carpeting, mini fridges and microwaves as well as commercial kitchen equipment, bar and restaurant furnishings, fitness equipment, laundry equipment and building fixtures.
While the sale is open to the public, Hall said he anticipates hotel and restaurant operators likely will be interested and could take swathes of items at a time.
He joked people have inquired if the pancake recipe is for sale. He doesn't have access to that, he said.
The property was severely damaged in the 2008 flood, then was renovated and reopened. But the owner at the time opted for a buyout after the 2016 flood.
The city acquired Cooper's Mill and the property for $5.23 million in October and plans to demolish it to make way for an eventual flood protection system.
According to a company profile, National Content Liquidators has remarketed the contents of more than 800 hotels and resorts in the continental United States and offshore, completing more than 300,000 guest rooms ranging in size from 100 to 2,000 room properties.
The community's west side has lamented the loss of Cooper's Mill, particularly the restaurant that drew a regular crowd for breakfast in the mornings.
'I hate to see the Best Western and Cooper's Mill restaurant, I hate to see that being taken up by flood protection, but I don't see any way around it,” Cedar Rapids City Council member Justin Shields said in October.
Francis King, 88, expressed his disappointment about losing 'one of the better fish fries in town” as well as the after-church crowd on Sundays.
l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com
Greg Hall sale manager with National Content Liquidators, Inc., looks at exercise equipment available for sale as the company prepares for a liquidation sale at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Prices are shown with sample items available for sale in the 82 rooms at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Greg Hall sale manager with National Content Liquidators, Inc., looks at a industrial Hobert stand mixer available for sale as the company prepares for a liquidation sale at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Food containers that are available for sale are stacked on shelves at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Prices are visible on items available for sale in the 82 rooms at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. Beds come with Frame, mattress, box spring, and headboard. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Vacuum cleaners available for sale are lined up at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Workers with National Content Liquidators, Inc., are preparing for a liquidation sale at the Best Western Cooper's Mill Hotel in northwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. The City of Cedar Rapids bought-out the hotel's owner after the business closed in preparation of flooding in Late September but never reopened. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
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