Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Ed Isolani is looking for folks to make music that could help raise money.
Could musicians help raise money toward rejuvenating the Hacienda Hotel? That's a question Ed Isolani wants to answer. He's planning a musical event at Mezzaluna Pizzeria in downtown New Port Richey where people can donate money toward efforts to restore the city-owned Hacienda. And, he’s looking for performers who want to play for free. He is planning an event for June 20, and is considering continuing it on the third Thursday of subsequent months. During the event, planners will collect donations to help move the now-vacant Hacienda’s revitalization forward. Isolani said that the money could go toward an engineering study for the building. The Hacienda opened for business as a hotel in 1927 and was once used as an assisted living …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
New Port Richey leaders want to see if tax credit incentive programs can help improve the historic downtown property or pay off some of its debt.
Could New Port Richey tap tax credit incentive money to fund improvements to the Hacienda Hotel or pay off the debt on the property? New Port Richey City Council members said during their Tuesday, April 23 meeting they want to explore the idea and authorized the city attorney to look into the matter. President Barack Obama signed into law this year an act allocating $7 billion over two years to the dormant New Markets Tax Credit program, which seeks to spur investment in low-income communities. In its first 12 years, the program distributed more than $25 billion of tax credits nationally into business transactions that helped “leverage substantial private investment in new projects and business expansion,” according to a memo from city …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
It seems no one is in a rush to talk about selling it off to a private developer.
Ben Barber has twice helped clean up the Hacienda Hotel. On Tuesday, he gave City Council members his suggestions for how to use the landmark, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. He said he thinks the building needs to be turned into a multi-use property. It needs to be ”not just a restaurant” and “not just a hotel,” he said. ”It needs to be a restaurant and a hotel, or a restaurant and office buildings up top. Something like that." Instead of just thinking of the building as a commercial enterprise, the city also needs to think about the property's historic value. Barber wants the city council to keep in mind that part of the Hacienda could be kept open as a museum. He wants part of it to be "open to the general public …
Friday, March 8, 2013
New Port Richey is using a new online resource to raise funds to help with the restoration of a very old downtown landmark.
The New Port Richey city government is using an online fundraising platform to raise money to aid the restoration of the Hacienda Hotel. On Wednesday, March 6, a post about the city’s project to fund repairs and environmental testing of the historic downtown landmark went live on Citizinvestor, a “crowdfunding” website that was created this past September. People can go the project page and pledge to make a donation there. Donations are tax deductible. The Hacienda restoration project’s goal is to raise $37,800. That goal must be met within 90 days of the project going live. If it is not met, donors are not charged. Eight percent of that total project cost will be paid to the Citizinvestor host if the project is fully funded. The money…
Sunday, March 3, 2013
OK, so you had a busy week. We understand. Let us catch you up on all the highlights.
Patch wants to be your source for local news coverage. We also want to make online community conversation fun and easy. Sometimes, it’s our local coverage that is the most striking thing about the site. Sometimes the most notable thing about a post is the conversations that arise from what we post. Sometimes we do both things well. Catch up and join the conversation by following the links below to find some highlights of the coverage and conversation on our site from this past week. Hacienda Hotel Gets Some More TLC Pasco Animal Services Doubling Vet Staff Gulf Middle Students to Show Off Science at State Level BP Oil Spill Money: How Should Pasco Spend It? Community Garden Ordinance Wins Final Approval 7 Qualify to Vie for 2 City Council…
A historian with the state archives sent us some historic images from the Hacienda. Do you have any?
The New Port Richey city government has been looking for photos of the Hacienda Hotel, the historic landmark on Main Street. Patch wrote about that, and someone took notice. Johnathan Grandage, archives historian with the State Library and Archives of Florida, sent us a lins to some historic photos of the downtown landmark from the state archive. We decided to post the photos here. They were taken between the beginning of the 1930s and 1950s. We haven’t seen these photos before, but you might have. Have interesting photos of the Hacienda? Scan them and email them to New Port Richey City Clerk Doreen Summers at summersd@cityofnewportrichey.org. Want to find out more about the state archive? Johnathan Grandage can be contacted at 850-245.…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Do you have old pictures of the building back in its heyday?
It’s no secret New Port Richey has been working hard to spruce up the old Hacienda Hotel. Two cleanups on the property have been staged since January. The first cleanup drew in more than 350 people. About 100 volunteers turned out for the second event on Saturday, Feb. 23. As the sprucing up continues, the City of New Port Richey wants to make sure the job gets done right. That’s why it’s looking for help locating old photos of the building during its heydays. “To keep our Hacienda restoration efforts compliant with the National Historic Register’s guidelines, we need to know what the Hacienda looked like, both inside and out, so that our work stays as close to the original design as possible,” the city’s website says. Photos that are …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Volunteers painted rails and ironwork, installed a sprinkler system and did more sprucing up of the downtown landmark.
Volunteers further spruced up the Hacienda Hotel in downtown New Port Richey over the weekend. On Saturday, the city held its second community cleanup day for the historic landmark on Main Street. Folks got to work painting ironwork and railings, repairing broken windows and installing a sprinkler system, Deputy Mayor Rob Marlowe reported in a recent blog. The Hacienda opened for business as a hotel in 1927. The building eventually was used as an assisted living facility. The city CRA bought the Hacienda in the early years of last decade, and the building has been vacant since 2006. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. The city council voted recently to end their relationship with Community Development Partners, a …
Sunday, February 17, 2013
There will be a community paint-up and fix-up day Saturday, Feb. 23.
New Port Richey city officials are gearing up to repair and paint the Hacienda Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 23 as a follow-up to their successful Community Clean-Up Day. More than 350 volunteers showed up on Saturday, Jan. 12, for the City of New Port Richey’s Hacienda Hotel First Community Clean-Up Day, according to a report posted on New Port Richey Patch by Marilyn Mercado, executive assistant to the New Port Richey city manager. Now, the city is asking for the support of the community once again on Feb. 23. In addition to residents, people with experience in the skilled trades will be needed. Volunteers will tackle painting exterior trim, painting exterior railings, window pane replacement, irrigation system installation and laying sod. …
Friday, February 15, 2013
City officials are readying for a follow up to their successful Community Clean Up Day.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- On Patch
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Friday, February 15
Ed Isolani
7:30 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Jody - that's the idea. Third Thursdays @ Mezzaluna will feature local acoustic talent and all the tips/donations are earmarked for the project. The Olde Folkers play every Thursday from 6:30 - 8:30 but we decided that the 3rd Thursday project was a great way to raise monies for the study to try and save this great building AND introduce the community to some of our wonderful area talent. This … more ›