Big Spring native G. Brint Ryan, manager of the Settles Hotel Development Company, made the announcement Tuesday night during a joint meeting of the Big Spring City Council and the city's economic development corporation.

“On Aug. 21 we have our groundbreaking ceremony scheduled and we appreciate the governor being willing to come out,” said Ryan. “He's been very gracious in accepting our invitation to deliver the keynote address at the ceremony, and we're really looking forward to that. After he steps off the podium, we're going to start asbestos abatement, and we're really thrilled about that.”

Ryan said the project — which has seen its budget balloon from $12 million to nearly $20 million over the past year — is behind schedule, but he feels confident it's moving in the right direction.

“This has been a very exhausting process. We've had a number of legal issues dealing with the microwave equipment that had to be removed from the building,” said Ryan, “we had significant consulting that had to be done on the asbestos abatement and we've been in the salvage operation in the building for the last six weeks, removing all the salvageable material before we start abatement. That includes all the sinks, the bath tubs, the fixtures — basically anything we can save for the reconstruction. In addition to that, we've had issues with the approval from the Texas Historic Commission and we received their final approval of our schematic design six weeks ago. We're very excited about that.

“We're doing the project right, and we're doing it right because that's how we want it and it's required to secure our tax credit financing. It's taken a little bit longer than we had initially planned, but the outcome is going to be more than worth it.”

SHDC announced plans for a multi-million dollar renovation project in December 2006. According to SHDC officials, the project includes plans for commercial and residential use of the property, with retail space available on the first and second floors.

Since that time, the purchase price for the structure — $75,000 to be paid to the city of Big Spring — has remained in escrow, waiting for Ryan and his company to take legal ownership of the local landmark.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it