The LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan has had six of 55 rooms available since January. The remaining rooms were closed following a city inspection.
In April, the LaSalle was declared a dangerous structure by the city’s building and standards commission.
On Monday, the commission held a special meeting at the request of the hotel owner. By a 4-1 vote, the commission approved the hotel owner’s request to reopen 13 more rooms if the owner gets a structural engineer submits an official report that is approved by the city building official.
The LaSalle, which was renovated in 1998 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 2000, has had all but six rooms closed since January. That follows a city inspection last October. Last month, the commission ordered the owner to complete repairs by November 1.
The commission was told plumbing and water tank repairs, stairwell lighting was installed, a loose gas line has been secured, and a rusty exterior door has been replaced.
Yet to be done, quoting commission documents, are “all repairs to the north facing fire rated windows and surrounding elements, including, but not limited to replacing broken glass, repaint, repair rust on windows and lintels, repair and/or repoint masonry around windows where damaged, must be completed by November 1, 2021”.
As for the new windows and frames, which were approved by the city’s historical landmarks commission because of the national historic designation, the building and standards commission was told Monday they have been purchased and are supposed to arrive next month.
City building official Greg Cox told commission chairman Darryl Massey that he needed a structural engineer from the hotel owner to tell him that rooms are safe to occupy with the current window frames and glass before reopening any more rooms.
Click below to hear some of the comments from Greg Cox and Darryl Massey from the June 21, 2021 meeting of the Bryan Building and Standards Commission.