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New Port Richey hotel restoration effort plods on
By Carl Orth
Tampa Tribune / Suncoast News
Published: Jun 8, 2013

NEW PORT RICHEY - Efforts to reopen the historic Hacienda are advancing, albeit slowly, New Port Richey city officials say.

Money is still needed for engineering analysis and any major structural repairs at the 86-year-old former hotel building, according to council members.

Council approved pursuing a historic preservation grant for up to $50,000 through the Florida Division of Historical Resources. The city would have to match the grant, probably from its share of Penny for Pasco special sales tax revenue.

The grant money, however, would become available only sometime after July 1, 2014, the start of the state's 2015 fiscal year, if the city succeeds, according to Finance Director Doug Haag. Still, the grant could be a "backstop" if other funding falls through, he said.

The city originally wanted the grant to pay for a structural assessment of the Hacienda. The money could be put toward other uses, Councilman Bill Phillips said, such as refurbishing the courtyard fountain or the back porch.

Meanwhile, the deadline for an online pledge drive had to be extended. The crowd-funding website Citizinvestor shows 35 investors having pledged $7,986 as of Wednesday. The fundraising goal is $37,800.

The campaign, originally set to end in early June, now has 58 days left. If the full amount is not raised, none of the pledges would have to be honored.

"There's a lot of interest" to have the Hacienda open in time for Chasco Fiesta in March 2014, former Councilman Rob Marlowe said.

City leaders want to build on the enthusiasm of the public at events held early this year.

Two cleanup campaigns, in January and February, brought hundreds of volunteers to spruce up the Hacienda by painting, replacing broken windows and making minor repairs.

Then a crowd packed a March city council workshop to suggest ideas for new uses for the Hacienda once it's ready to reopen.

Most suggested reopening the ballroom first to rent the space for large parties, proms or wedding receptions.

A large majority opposed the city selling the Hacienda to a private developer.

A restaurant or cafÃ© topped the list of possible uses for Hacienda in a survey. About half of respondents also would like to see boutiques or retail shops.

About one-third of respondents said they would visit a reopened Hacienda weekly, while almost another third pledged to visit monthly.

Completed in 1927, the Spanish-style stucco luxury hotel attracted silent screen stars such as Thomas Meighan and Gloria Swanson.

The intention was to create the "Hollywood of the East" in New Port Richey, but the collapse of the 1920s Florida real estate boom and the 1929 stock market crash and resulting Depression ended those plans.

On Oct. 24, 1996, the Hacienda Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2004, the city bought the hotel at the height of the early 21st century real estate boom in Florida and has struggled ever since to find a willing buyer to restore it. So last year city officials decided upon community involvement instead.