Draft:Elliot Hotel

The Elliot Hotel was a noted landmark in Odessa, Texas. In 1927, the same year that Odessa was chartered as a city, George Elliot purchased a lot at 3rd and Grant from famed Texas Newspaperman Barney Hubbs for $25.00. Mr. Elliot built the hotel that bore his name on that plot of land. It was the finest building in Odessa at three stories tall and the largest all-brick building in the city. Nothing else like it could be seen between Big Spring and El Paso. In all Mr. Elliot originally spent $200,000 and boasted 70 rooms, all [rooms had window access to the] outside, with circulating ice - water, individual fans and telephones, tub or shower bath, steam heated, and of course "Absolutely fireproof"

Alas all of this was not meant to last forever as only 55 years later in 1982 it would see its destruction. The city of Odessa in the 1960's began expanding outwardly and in an undutiful manner neglected it's core downtown district. Residential and retail expanses in East and North Odessa, such as the Winwood Mall(1973), currently known as the Winwood Town Center, and Permian Mall(1980) now known as the Music City Mall, would draw economic interest elsewhere. In 1983, construction of a new Police Department replaced the historic building. It is also the site of the Municipal Court and City Jail.

Of note, the void left behind by a community and economic force that the Elliot Hotel was has been followed by interest in Downtown Odessa's renewal which began in earnest in the late 2010's with the revival of the Ector Theater and the construction of a new Marriot Hotel and Conference Center. Downtown Parades, Festivals, Art Shows and Farmer's Market events are now common place near and around the former Elliot Hotel site. New bars and restaurants are opening up in old defunct downtown store fronts leaving one to wonder how a well maintained and financed Elliot Hotel could have provided to the City of Odessa's Downtown for future generations.