Bronsbil Estacion: El Jardin Hotel

Showing posts with label El Jardin Hotel. Show all posts

2016/09/16

c1975 El Jardin Hotel '75 Monte Carlo Lowrider-revised

Scene in front of El Jardin Hotel with Ford Lincoln and '75 Chevy Monte Carlo

'75 Monte Carlo ad

2016/09/11

1942 Arthur Rothstein photo of E Levee St

1942 E Levee St with sign for Gateway Bridge for Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico from Brownsville, Texas. This photo includes a rare view of Missouri Pacific Railroad station and El Jardin Hotel built in 1928. The photo was taken during the annual Charro Days international celebration between Brownsville and Matamoros still held every February but bull fights in Matamoros are no longer part of the celebrating.

Colorized by Javier R Garcia

2016/08/11

1928 Signs of Better Days Downtown

by Jose Cazares

1928 was a busy year for Electric street signs. Two new electric signs, one on Levee street and one on Washington lighted up the city streets of Brownsville's skyline.

The Hotel El Jardin sign costed about $1,500. It was about thirty feet high and fifteen feet wide and had letters almost three feet high. It was was placed on the Southeast corner of the hotel, beginning at about the fifth story and extended to the top. M. Reich of San Antonio, who designed the huge "Solid Light" glower, was in charge of its erection. The letters were made of "Reich-Light" glass, a specially patented glass which admits of greater illumination and reflection than any glass known at that time.

The Capitol theatre also placed its sign in 1928. (Editor's note: Capitol Theater sign of 1928 had nation's Capitol building as icon on top. The new sign may have replaced original after 1933 hurricane or 1938 when Capitol was completely upgraded.)

1938 Brownsville Herald ad page

Another of Mr Reich's signs was the Cameron Hotel sign on Washington street.

In 1928, The Missouri Pacific Lines constructed the "International Bridge" ornamental sign at the entrance to the bridge road leading to the International bridge. Train schedules and general information was posted on this sign, it is said and it was illuminated at night. (cropped section of 1942 Arthur Rothstein photo colorized by Javier R. Garcia)

2016/02/07

1926 ~ El Jardin excavation

Research by Jose Cazares

Brownsville historian Jose Cazares likes to keep an eye to the past and toward the future of El Jardin. Much has been said about the old hotel and until they begin breathing life back into there is no new news to report.

What makes this photograph fascinating is that its a rare look at just how deep into the ground they dug. Here's what Mr. Cazares included when he shared this with us on the Facebook page:

The hammering of the pile driver on the site of the Hotel El Jardin started on January 22, 1926. It was the first time that a building here was being built to such size that fifty-foot poles, treated with Creosote, were necessary to provide a proper foundation. There were about 260 poles that were driven into the earth on the site of the hotel and it took about 30 days to complete this job. After the poles were finished being driven into the ground, concrete was poured to a depth of eight or ten feet, once the foundations were ready, the superstructure was started.

Many of us have heard the story of how wooden pieces from sunken river boats were discovered after digging but this is the first time I ever saw how deep they went and look at the guy on right just to see it's about 10-12 ft at least.

Jose also adds: "Three thousand yards of dirt were excavated from the hotel site. The piling contractors were Dodds & Wedegartner of San Benito."

2015/12/05

1928 & 1948 El Jardin interior images

From Monty's Monthly Magazine which was published in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas containing business and social news. Within the pages appeared a few now very rare images of the inside of the Hotel El Jardin (researched by Jose Cazares)

Images from El Jardin brochure

1948 Propeller Club party at El Jardin patio

Propeller club members talking about propellers

December 14th 1926

December 26th, 1926 Hotel El Jardin

Still inside is the original last used switch board, mail sorter, and key holder (Cassandra Delgado photo)

Original flooring, the ball room chandeliers were HUGE, and the stairs leading up to the rooms (Cassandra Delgado photo)

The lobby (those arches use to be stained glass), the stairs again, and another chandelier i found complete with Christmas decorations still hanging from it. (Cassandra Delgado photo)

The original hotel safe, and the upper room levels (Cassandra Delgado photo)

The roof top and the original elevator system located at the top floor (Cassandra Delgado photo)

2015/07/21

1927 Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot (MoPac) Lines in Brownsville, Texas architectural renderings by David Curry

David Currey of Houston, Texas has been designing a model of the 1927 Missouri Pacific Railroad depot that once stood on 12th and E Levee St next to El Jardin Hotel. He is collaborating with William Basden who is building a model. Let's hope they complete their work in time for the Missouri Pacific Historical Society's conference in 2016.

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Front Elevation Revision C 06-17-15 Picture Version Scenery Palms 3B Production Blur

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Front Elevation Revision C 06-17-15 Picture Version Blur

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Right Side Elevation Revision B 07-16-15 Picture Version Blurred

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Left Side Elevation Revision C 07-19-15 Picture Version Blurred

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Rear Elevation Revision B 06-16-15 Picture Version Blurred

MoPac Brownsville 1927 ~ Photo shared by Jose Cazares. Colorized by Bronsbil Estacion.

National Geographic image

If you have any research that isn't already posted on the internet and would like to help, Mr. Curry can be emailed at: texasandlouisiana@msn.com

2015/05/16

El Jardin gets buyer - Brownsville Herald: Local News

BY STEVE CLARK | STAFF WRITER

Brownsville’s historic El Jardin Hotel, vacant for decades, has been purchased by a Fort Worth-based environmental remediation firm.

David Jordan, CEO of Ponce and Associates LLC, said Friday that his company closed on the deal early this month and plans to renovate the neglected East Levee Street property. The purchase price was $780,000, he said.

The seller was Marta Martinez, who inherited the hotel from her father, Matamoros businessman Marte Martinez, who died in 2008.

Jordan said the plan is to turn the El Jardin into a multipurpose building with a high-end restaurant on the roof, perhaps four floors dedicated to student housing, and other retail shops and restaurants. He said he’s been approached by restaurants and a bingo parlor concession interested in leasing space.

Jordan said his company would perform the asbestos and lead abatement in-house and that the renovation itself likely will cost between $4.5 and $6.5 million. He said the company intended to cover the cost of renovating the building itself rather than bringing in outside investors.

“We’re trying to do most of it out of pocket,” Jordan said. “It’s been pretty successful so far. It’s a pretty big company.”

I guess ya just gotta keep on believin'