CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) — The 1912 Nueces County Courthouse has officially been sold. It's back taxes have been paid, and a new owner is ready to usher in a new era for the building.
The contract for the deal was signed Thursday and the old courthouse now belongs to Coon Restoration.
"This is going to be an historic day in Nueces County," Judge Loyd Neal said.
The owner of Coon Restoration, Steve Coon, said the project is the real deal. He said his company gets requests to restore historic buildings all the time.
"But when I saw the pictures of the courthouse and that had, it had the right bones, and I felt it told the right story just from looking at it and from looking at hundreds, if not thousands, of buildings all over the United States," Coon said.
Coon said oftentimes communities choose to forgo the expense of restoring historical buildings or extending an effort to find someone that can.
"You know when they talked about tearing it down, I always say, you know, a lot of times when a city smiles they tear down most of their city's structures. I mean, your front teeth would have been missing if you would have torn that down," Coon said.
The sale might not have happened Thursday had it not been for someone taking a picture with their cell phone.
"That's what got the whole thing started," said Mike Pusley, former Nueces County Commissioner. "I mean just one simple little thing, and you put that in perspective. Of all the people, who all the years worked so hard and spent a lot of money trying to make that happen, and a cell phone picture changed the whole scope of the project."
"During that period of time my dad changed companies and started working for Coon Restoration," said Colleen Simpson, the person who took that photo. "And so I kind of just lightheartedly sent him a photo of the courthouse and said, 'This would be cool to restore.'"
Now, two and a half years later, it's a done deal.
"This is just the biggest step that Corpus Christi has probably ever taken, and of course my emphasis is that we are preserving history," said Commissioner Monica Burdette of the Texas Historical Commission.
The new owners plan to begin site work in October and then construction in November.
"This is definitely a hotel that you would call four star," Project Manager Steve Goodman said.
Goodman said the structure will be expanded to provide 200 rooms to guests. It will have a grand ballroom, bars and restaurants.
"We are negotiating with -- I'm not at liberty because we haven't signed the deal yet -- but it'll be a legacy brand. It'll be like a Hilton or Hyatt. Marriott. Not a boutique," Goodman said.
The opening date should be sometime in 2020.
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