What does $302,700 buy on the Bagnell Dam Strip? As of the Sept. 22 Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen meeting, it pays to tear down 23 blighted properties. The best known is the Shoreland Hotel and its pool at 1172 Bagnell Dam Blvd. If the city's schedule holds, the crews will start mid-October and finish before the holidays.
That timing shapes the Strip for the rest of the year. The removal work has a contractor, a start date and an end date. The projects meant to add something to the Strip were last reported on developer timelines aimed at late 2026 at the earliest and mostly at 2027. So for the coming months, the biggest physical change on the Strip will be cleared ground. The October calendar runs alongside it much as it always has.
Twenty-Three Properties, One Contract, Two Bids
The Lake Sun's Sept. 30 report covers the approval. Aldermen passed the first reading of an ordinance allowing the demolition, and Ramboldt Excavation, LLC came in as low bidder at $302,700. The bids were far apart. City Administrator Harrison Fry said only two came in, and the second, from Midland Wrecking Inc. of Kansas City, Kansas, topped $700,000. Projects funded by Community Development Block Grants generally need at least three bids, and Fry told the board the city had received the required minimum bidder waiver.
The money was arranged months earlier. In a Jan. 8, 2026 release, the city announced a $300,000 CDBG grant paired with $133,030 from Reese Development, which owns all 23 properties. Not all of them sit on the boulevard. The release lists structures on Carls Drive, Ballenger Road, Thornsberry Road, Beach Drive and School Road. That means crews and equipment will be working on side streets behind the Strip, not only at the Shoreland frontage.
One procedural point matters for anyone planning around this. The Sept. 22 vote was a first reading. The dates below are what the city expects. Work has not started yet.
The Window Falls Between the Strip's Fall Weekends
Fry laid out the schedule for the board:
"We anticipate that the start date for this project would be October 15 and that their completion date will be December 15 or earlier. The property owner, the grant administrator and I will have a scheduled pre-construction meeting place on Oct. 13. prior to the commencement date."
The Strip's biggest recent fall event is already over. The third annual Lake of the Ozarks Jeep Invasion ran Sept. 25 through 27 and brought Jeeps, vendors, live music and cruising to the stretch between 1501 and 1360 Bagnell Dam Blvd. What's left on the October calendar fits around the demolition window, with one event before it starts and one well inside it.
| Date | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 3, 9 a.m. | Walk to End Alzheimer's | Bagnell Dam Strip |
| Fridays and Saturdays in October | Live Music Weekends | H. Toad's Bar & Grill, Lake Ozark |
| Oct. 13 | Expected pre-construction meeting | City, property owner, grant administrator |
| Oct. 15 | Expected demolition start | 23 Reese Development properties |
| Oct. 17, 10 a.m. | Oktoberfest 0.5K/5K | The Sanctuary Brewery, Osage Beach |
| Oct. 31, 2 to 4 p.m. | Halloween on the Bagnell Dam Strip | Bagnell Dam Strip |
| Dec. 15 or earlier | Expected demolition completion | 23 Reese Development properties |
The Walk to End Alzheimer's on Oct. 3 comes almost two weeks before the expected start. The Halloween afternoon on Oct. 31 lands about two weeks into the window. H. Toad's live music runs every weekend of the month, according to the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau's October 2026 event sheet. The Oktoberfest 5K on Oct. 17 is often lumped in with Strip events, but it starts at The Sanctuary Brewery in Osage Beach.
What Fills the Space Runs on a Different Clock
There's one detail in the city's release worth knowing before you picture the finished Strip. It quotes Reese Development COO Peter Colovos describing the demolition as part of continued Strip redevelopment, but it doesn't say what will go on any of the 23 cleared sites. The September report doesn't either. Nothing published so far ties a new building to the Shoreland lot.
The two Strip projects that have been described in detail sit on other parcels, and the latest public updates on both date from early 2026.
George Tucker's multi-level complex. In LakeExpo's roundup of developments to watch in 2026, the restaurateur and developer placed the project on the Strip between Neon Taco and Bagnell Dam. The plan as described has a Tulum-inspired pool bar on the bottom level, all-ages entertainment on the two middle levels, and a Mediterranean rooftop bar on top. At the time, Tucker hadn't named the levels. He said construction was progressing, mentioned a possible partial soft opening in late 2026, and said the complex wouldn't be fully open until the 2027 season. That schedule already replaced an earlier one. An earlier LakeExpo story had floated a May 2026 full opening.
Robert Dullard's hotel. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the site plan for a hotel near 1733 Bagnell Dam Blvd. at its Feb. 11, 2026 meeting. LakeExpo reported that the plan calls for 60 rooms on five stories, behind Donut Palace and next to the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District station. Ramboldt Excavation, the same firm that won the demolition bid, was preparing the site. Dullard called his roughly 18-month opening goal a soft deadline. In the same story he said he owns Donut Palace, had bought JJ Twiggs, and had given the JJ Twiggs building a major facelift over the off-season.
Those are the most recent public reports on either project. Neither has a newer construction update, announced name or firm opening date in the record. Treat them as the developers' plans as of late winter, not as progress you'll see this October.
The Pavement Work Penciled in for This Season
The city's 2026–2028 capital improvement plan adds a road crew to the fall picture. It budgets $150,000 for a Reclamite pavement treatment on Bagnell Dam Boulevard from the city limit at Bagnell Dam to the MM Overpass, scheduled for fall 2026. The same plan sets aside $535,000 for a sidewalk along Bagnell Dam Boulevard from Henderson Lane to the HH intersection, with MoDOT's timeline showing completion in winter 2026. It also listed Strip restriping for spring 2026.
These are planned dates in a budget document, not confirmed work. Still, if the Reclamite treatment and the demolition both happen on schedule, the boulevard could have pavement crews and demolition equipment working in the same weeks this fall. That's a good reason to watch for city notices before planning a weekday lunch on the Strip in late October or November.
For now, the October Strip has a Saturday-morning charity walk, live music every weekend at H. Toad's, and a Halloween afternoon. Meanwhile, a hotel that defined one stretch of the boulevard for years is expected to come down behind them. The additions are coming later, on calendars the developers have set for 2027.
If you've watched the Strip change for years and wonder what it means for a home or condo you own nearby, or one you've been thinking about, Susan Ellis Real Estate Group is following these projects closely and is glad to talk through what the new schedules could mean for you. Find Properties whenever you're ready, or just reach out and ask what's next for the Strip.