Architects set sights on iconic Temple buildings

What was once the heart of downtown Temple may find a pulse once again.

Architects are planning to totally renovate two of the citys most iconic buildings, the Hawn Hotel and the Arcadia Theater. Both closed their doors decades ago.

"If you Google Icons Temple, Texas you find the Hawn. If you're driving down the interstate on I-35 and you look to the east you see the Hawn," Tanya Mikeska-Reed, an architect, said.

Under the new remodel, the Hawn Hotel will serve as mixed-use, local businesses on the ground floor and condominiums above. The Arcadia will reopen as a musical venue. The idea is to give bands a place to play a gig on their way between Austin and Dallas.

"When we're recruiting companies, many times, companies like to see the energy of a downtown core or a downtown business district or entertainment district, Charley Ayers with the Temple Economic Corporation said. The Hawn would be an absolutely perfect piece that would be added to that."

Temple's Architectural Edge says it may take a couple years to renovate both buildings and that the project will be privately financed.

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Architects set sights on iconic Temple buildings