Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, a member of the committee, made the announcement.
The bill refers to the hotel’s use as a support facility directly related to a performing arts center, but the city of Temple has actively pursued renovation of the building as a hotel.
Plans are for the old theater to be a performing arts venue. Early discussions more than a year ago involved using the two attached buildings as a performing arts education center.
“We were aware that the appropriations committee had two or three meetings this week doing markups on bills,” Temple City Manager David Blackburn said.
He said that while committees work on bills, it is not unusual for later clarification in their wording.
“We’re trying to find out from staffers what kind of language will come out and what will need to be clarified,” Blackburn said Thursday evening.
Blackburn said the city had submitted three requests for funding for the renovation project, and he suspected this was one of those requests.
Pending the results of a feasibility study, the city is working with a Bryan company to renovate the Hawn Hotel into a full-service hotel that would include a top floor ballroom and club area.
The feasibility study would examine possible uses of the Hawn as a hotel, the attached Arcadia Theater as a performing arts facility and the entire block for a performing arts complex, according to city officials.
The Bryan company’s focus of the project would be on the Hawn as a hotel.
Hutchison’s office said the wording of the bill, as it passed through the committee, provides funding to restore and convert the former Arcadia Theater into a downtown performance venue. The Hawn Hotel will also be renovated to house classrooms, rehearsal spaces and dressing rooms for the center.
“The Performing Arts Center will be a new cultural hub that will educate and entertain visitors and residents in Temple and throughout the region,” Hutchison said in a news release.
The approved funding is part of the fiscal 2008 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.
The bill still must be voted on by the full Senate and House.
rstinson@temple-telegram.com
