Developers hope to restore historic Stonewall Jackson

SAN BENITO — Ricardo Partida runs his hand along the tall entryway that welcomed land barons and socialites into the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in the city’s heyday.

“We want to bring it back to its glory days,” Partida said as he stood next the hotel’s tall, frayed wooden door.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, the Stonewall Jackson stood like a monument in the heart of the city that was a hub for the region’s agricultural bounty.

But for decades, the hotel slumped into a flop house for drug users and prostitutes.

In December, Partida and partners Alma Flores and Omar Cuevas bought the hotel to restore its luster, they said.

“It reminded me of the buildings of San Antonio,” said Partida, a McAllen businessman who owns apartments. “We want people to see the beauty of the architecture of this building.”

The project could help revitalize the downtown area, like the developers of the recently renovated Reese-Wil-Mont Hotel hope to invigorate downtown Harlingen, Partida said.

“There’s not many of these buildings left,” Partida said.

In Weslaco, the project to renovate the Cortez Hotel helped fuel the city’s economy, said Martha Noell, president of the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s been a catalyst of the downtown renovation,” Noell said. “It’s kept the downtown alive and continuing to grown.”

For decades, Brownsville leaders have dreamed of the renovation of the El Jardin Hotel, the South Texas landmark built in the 1920s.

The project would likely spark the renovations of some of the city’s historic buildings, said Gilberto Salinas, vice president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

“It’s such an important part of Brownville’s history, Brownsville’s character,” Salinas said. “Everybody wants that back.”

In San Benito, the Stonewall Jackson became the heart of the city, said Betty Cashin, a retired schoolteacher who was in high school when she strolled into the hotel in the 1930s.

“It was very elegant. We were real proud of it because we hadn’t had a big fancy hotel ever before,” she said. “We had big parties there. We were tickled when the dances were held there. It was lots of fun.”

The Stonewall Jackson remains one of the city’s most cherished historic landmarks, said Tootie Madden, president of the San Benito Historical Society.

“The whole citizenry hopes it can be put back as close to its original condition as it can,” she said.

The hotel’s new owners say they’re working hard to make the dream come true.

“Their hearts are in the right place,” Madden said.

Since December, the owners have spent nearly $50,000 to renovate parts of the hotel that features 54 guest rooms, Partida said.

“Every day we’re doing something,” he said. “It’s been non-stop.”

In the hotel’s lobby, he scrubbed and waxed the old floor to unveil its Spanish tile, Partida said.

“You don’t find tile like this anymore,” he said. “We want people to come to see its beauty.”

Then he remodeled the hotel’s restaurant, stripping its worn carpet to reveal its original hardwood floor, he said.

Now, it’s a family restaurant that offers good inexpensive meals, he said.

“We’re trying to bring in antique furniture,” he said.

This week, he plans to open the hotel bar to feature a pool table and juke box, offering beer with a free botana, he said.

Up the long staircase, Partida walked into the building’s second floor, where rooms remain in the same condition as the day he bought the hotel.

Over the years, drug users and prostitutes stayed in rooms where he found syringes on the floors, Partida said.

“It was wide open,” he said of the hotel. “People were lying on the floors.”

Now, he’s renovating the hotel’s third-floor guest rooms, he said.

“We want everyone who lives here to live in a good condition,” he said.

The hotel’s gated elevator will remain stalled at the ground floor until he can afford to fix it, he said.

In its basement, the hotel holds memories of the Cold War, Partida said.

“There’s a bunker down there,” he said. “In the days of the Cold War, rich people would stay here waiting for nuclear war.”

Since December, the hotel’s occupants have changed, Flores said.

Gone are the drug users and prostitutes, she said.

“It’s important to see the atmosphere here is changing,” Flores said. “It’s no longer a place of damnation.”

Next, the owners plan to remodel the hotel’s conference room and the fabled out-door patio, Partida said.

For him, the hotel’s renovation is a labor of love, Partida said.

“It’s a challenge,” Partida said. “But it’s a joy to work on something as beautiful as this.”