After many months of restoration, construction and remodeling, the historic O.T. Bassett Tower in downtown El Paso will be reopening its doors as an Aloft Hotel.
The 89 room hotel will officially open for business on May 24th, but a special preview was held for media members on Wednesday. A public ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held in early June.
The 15-story Bassett Tower, designed by Henry Trost in 1929, was the tallest building in the city for several years. The tower is a registered National Historic Landmark, and was used for many years as office spaces for countless borderland businesses.
The tower was originally built by Charles N. Bassett, and named in honor of his father – Oscar – who owned one of the city’s original lumber yards, among other properties. After he died, Charles came to El Paso in 1900 to oversee his father’s businesses.
Work on the tower was done by the firm of Wright and Dalbin; according to their website, their work on the tower included “adapting existing historical elements on the exterior and interior of the building in order to qualify for state and federal historic tax credits which will fund up to 45% of the cost of qualified improvements. The scope of services includes design and construction documents for the exterior facade and interior historic elements, as well as coordination with city, state, and federal agencies having jurisdiction for approval.”
Now the tower will operate as a Marriott hotel, under the Aloft Hotel brand, and run by Starwood.
