During its regular meeting beginning at 5 p.m. today in the Municipal Building, the city council will likely approve a $69,500 contract with two Houston companies working together to conduct a feasibility study on future use of the historic building.
The building has fallen into disrepair and has been an eyesore in the city for years.
City Manager David Blackburn said the scope of services for the study will include use of the building as a hotel, use of the hotel building for mixed purposes (retail, office and residential), use of the attached Arcadia Theater as a performing arts center and the economic impact of a proposed use of the hotel and theater buildings and the surrounding block.
Kim Foutz, assistant city manager and project manager for the properties, said the feasibility study will provide possible alternatives if the proposed uses are not feasible.
“If it (the study) says the uses are not feasible, it will give the highest and best use that can be supported by the market,” she said.
The study is expected to take 120 days, according to the city.
Blackburn said outside firms of PKF Consulting and CDS Market Research, both of Houston, will likely be hired to do the study if the council approves the measure.
“Using outside firms will … help us reach a higher level of comfort and hopefully validate, or not, the proposal,” he said.
In May, the city received a proposal from Astin Redevelopment group of Bryan that shows the building being put to use again as a full-service hotel, complete with a top floor ballroom and club area, in a possible public/private project.
The proposal includes full historic restoration of the exterior faces and complete interior remodeling. Although the Astin proposal references the attached Arcadia Theater and preserving its connectivity with the hotel, the company’s role would be limited to restoration of the hotel building, a company spokesman said. The Astin proposal hinges on the result of the feasibility study.
Blackburn said the city has no plans to be left with ownership of the properties.
“Our intent from the beginning was to be a holding agent for the property,” he said.
“Our intent was successful redevelopment of the property. That’s the lone objective - there was never a set course,” he said of uses for the properties.
“The key is that whatever is developed there is successful,” Ms. Foutz said.
The Hawn was built in the late 1920s as one of the first three “skyscrapers” in Temple, along with the Kyle Hotel and the SPJST Professional Building. The Hawn used to be a social hotspot in the city where residents partied and danced in the ballroom on the ninth floor of the building.
In 2003 the city took action to force the owner of the property to take down a metal tower on top of the building for safety reasons.
Vacant for more than 25 years, the building has become weathered and worn with broken out windows. Pigeons and even bees made the hotel their home prior to the city acquiring it in April 2006.
The city purchased the building for $340,000 from a Harker Heights-area developer, James Gaffney, who served as the broker between the city and the then owner.
Temple Mayor Bill Jones III said at the time that the council action was meant to preserve the old building for redevelopment purposes, adding that the immediate concerns were to keep it from deteriorating further and address safety issues.
The Arcadia Theater, attached to the Hawn by an added-on structure, could be linked to the Hawn’s future, with city officials and the committee interested in developing both.
The theater opened in September 1928 and shut its doors in 1978. During that time it began to deteriorate.
In 2000, Friends of the Arcadia, an organization formed to acquire and restore the theater, purchased the theater for $16,000. In 2003 the group had raised enough money to replace a leaky roof and stop further damage to the building.
During its heyday the theater enjoyed visits by Roy Rogers with Trigger and Robert Mitchum.
During a workshop beginning at 3:30 p.m., the council will discuss operation and maintenance of the city’s landfill and hear an update on strategic investment zones.
