Long-simmering talk of restoring the long-closed Herring Hotel in Amarillo reached a boiling point the past week or so, according to several media outlets.
KFDA-TV in Amarillo reported Wednesday the owner is talking to investors who want to restore the stately building:
Robert Goodrich plans to formally announce the renovation in the next few weeks.
In an interview Wednesday, councilman Brian Eades confirmed the project and said plans for the hotel include retail space, a smaller hotel with boutiques and grand ballrooms and multiple condos for sale on the higher floors.
“They’re right now only in the initial planning phases,” said Eades. “They’re going to have to remove a bunch of walls. I had the opportunity to look at the plans. They’re still trying to put their financing model together and that’s by no means a done deal, but there are a lot of local investors who are potentially interested in helping them do that.”
KAMR-TV hinted Newcrest Image, which owns Downtown Marriott and is building the Embassy Suites Convention Center Hotel in Amarillo, may buy the property from Goodrich. And the Amarillo Globe-News reported last week the hotel may be sold.
The Herring Hotel stands at 311 Southeast Third Ave. between the northbound and southbound lanes of Business Route 66 in downtown, before Route 66 turns west on Sixth Avenue.
The Herring Hotel was listed on Preservation Texas’ Most Endangered Places list in 2006. Oilman, banker and rancher Cornelius Taylor Herring built the 14-story, 600-room hotel in the 1920s. The hotel briefly was converted into office space in the early 1970s. It has been abandoned for about 30 years.
Those who doubt whether a huge, long-shuttered hotel from the 1920s can be revived should look to the Mayo Hotel in Tulsa, which faced similar circumstances about a decade ago. The Mayo now is one of the premiere lodging destinations of the city.
(Image of the Herring Hotel in April 2015 by Barbara Brannon via Flickr)
My Dad and Mother spent their honeymoon night in the Herring when my Dad was stationed at Amarillo. I’d love to see it restored