Bellevue's Paragon Hotel being torn down to make way for new I-405 overpass

Bellevue's old Paragon Hotel is being demolished to make room for a new Interstate 405 overpass. A pair of excavators began tearing down the two-story, wood-framed building at dawn today. Demolition is expected to last four weeks. After that, Northeast 10th Street will be extended through the property and the overpass installed.

The $62 million crossing above I-405 is expected to open in 2009 and will connect downtown directly to the Overlake Hospital Medical Center.

The four-lane overpass is also meant to relieve congestion on the nearby Northeast Eighth Street overpass, and to provide a safe crossing for pedestrians, say state Department of Transportation officials. Sidewalks will be 12 feet wide, but no bicycle lanes are planned, officials said.

A future phase will add a ramp from the overpass to Highway 520, said Brian Nielsen, project construction manager for the DOT. When that ramp is completed in 2012 that it will make Northeast 10th Street the primary route to 520, which will no longer be reachable from Northeast Eighth.

The 208-room hotel opened in 1969 — venerable by downtown Bellevue standards — and closed in 2007. It was previously a Thunderbird Motor Inn, Red Lion Hotel and Doubletree Hotel, and Ramada Inn.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com