Schuylkill County is taking the owner of a once popular restaurant and motel to court over $47,500 in unpaid hotel tax.

Seven Hills Hospitality Inc., owns the fire-gutted shell of was once the Days Inn at 1476 Route 61.

Commissioners Chairman Barron L. Hetherington described the blighted building as an “eyesore.”

It was especially disheartening because the place is on a busy stretch of Route 61, where visitors to the county can’t help but see it.

Originally the Dusselfink, a popular venue for weddings and other events, the building changed hands after going bankrupt and was put up for auction in 1990.

Miners National Bank took ownership for about two years, and in 1992 was sold to CBSS Inc./Hoover, McKinley, for $750,000. In 2007, it was sold to Seven Hills for $1,164,000, according to online county real estate records.

In March 2019, the motel, by then called the Days Inn and long vacant, was destroyed by a deliberately set fire.

The county on April 24, 2019, filed the $47,500 municipal claim for unpaid hotel tax against the owners, about a month after the vacant motel was destroyed by arson.

Seven Hills has not paid any hotel tax since then.

County commissioners approved the legal action at a public meeting Wednesday.

County Treasurer Linda L. Yeich said at the meeting that the owner is up-to-date on property taxes.

“They are paying their taxes, but there are some other liens and judgments out there,” she said.

Assistant County Solicitor Paul J. Datte said that the court ruling could go one of two ways: Either the company will pay the back tax, or the parcel will be sold at sheriff’s sale.

Hetherington said he “understands there are some interested parties” for the property, which is in North Manheim Township.

He thanked Yeich, Datte and First Assistant County Solicitor/Risk Manager Glenn T. Roth Jr. for their efforts in the matter.