10/21/2020
Decayed and Abandoned South Photographers spent a day at the Herring. They focus on photographing old buildings. They request permission to enter the buildings and then turn dark and dank into photographic art. Enjoy!!!!!!
On the north side of downtown Amarillo sits a giant hotel built between 1925 and 1927 at the cost of $1,000,000 (which was equivalent of $14m today). It was commissioned to be built by Cornelius Taylor Herring. Mr. Herring was a very prominent banker, oilman and cattlemen that helped shape Amarillo and the area in its early days. The hotel was one of 3 built during this oil boom era and the only one left standing. At the time of its construction, it was the highest building in Amarillo at 14 stories tall. The hotel was also home to the "Old Tascosa Room" in the basement. The club was a place for oil and cattle tycoons to meet, do business, a little gambling and unwind. The walls of the club were decorated with murals by an artist named H.D. Bugbee. Eventually, the hotel closed and after years of being vacant the local government purchased the building in the 1970s. They turned the once grand hotel into office space to house all of the government offices in one building. During this time, the government stripped the inside of the structure to change it from a hotel to an office building. Only a couple floors didn't get stripped and changed during that time. For whatever reason the different branches of government didn't like being housed in the same office building and soon some of the different departments moved to new places. Eventually, all of the government offices moved out and the building has been vacant since.
The hotel has a lot of early Amarillo history tied to it. Over the years there have been a couple attempts to renovate the building and reuse it but have ended with endless setbacks and running out of money. Unfortunately, at some point, the owner allowed contractors rip out all of the bathroom fixtures for the remaining hotel room on the 3rd and 4th floor. These contractors caused millions of dollars worth of damage and ended up stripping most of the copper and metal from the building.
Today the building sits vacant. It's well guarded by the police station next door and the 24 hour security guard (homeless man allowed to camp in front of the building). It also has a security alarm and motion sensors, but the caretaker and the owner still struggle to keep trespassers out of the building. Over the last few years have had to remove the fire escape stairs from the sides of the building. Nobody gets in without permission or getting met by the local police.
One of the highlights while touring the hotel was when we where on the roof and the the caretaker pointed out a hawk that got trapped on one the the floors who was desperately trying to get out. When we went down to the floor, we were able to locate him in a back room hitting the windows as hard as he could trying to get out. So I crept into the room while my wife, son, and caretaker looked on at the entrance of the room so he wouldn't fly to a different part. After some pulling and pushing I was able to get a couple of the the windows opened. The caretaker found something to keep the windows propped open and after a few more attempts the hawk was able to get out and fly away.
