Bryan, Texas: A Legend Reborn
At the end of the 20th century, Historic Downtown Bryan found itself facing the fate of many Main Streets in America: it was falling into disrepair.
Historic buildings were nearing their centennial, and it showed. Paint was peeling on exteriors; former gathering places sat empty. Streets that had seen Fourth of July parades and marches were a lot quieter than they had been in their heyday.
Bryan’s community recognized a travesty occurring before their eyes. If they didn’t stand up to preserve the buildings that had stood tall throughout Bryan’s history — who would? In 1981, local citizens wrote a strong historic preservation enabling ordinance and founded the Bryan Historic Landmark Commission. Within a few years, they started working with the City of Bryan to conduct a comprehensive survey identifying Bryan’s historic resources and began bringing festivals and events back to Downtown.
Their efforts kindled a spark that continues to this day. Community members have rallied around Bryan’s history, working together to breathe new life back into iconic buildings that line Main Street and its surrounding areas. This era of rebirth and revitalization is prevalent in Historic Downtown Bryan, where the last several years have been full of back-to-back restorations and re-openings.
Most recently, The LaSalle Hotel welcomed back guests after a year-long renovation, reopening in September 2024 as a member of the Marriott Tribute Portfolio. When it was first built in 1928, it was the tallest building in Bryan and served as a hotel for travelers and workers from the nearby train depot. Throughout the years, it became an apartment complex, a nursing home, and even a highlight in Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett’s “This Old Porch.”
The LaSalle sat closed for the last two decades of the 20th century before it was bought by the City of Bryan and opened, again, as a boutique hotel. New Castle Hotels and Resorts acquired the property in 2023 and worked with Post Oak Preservation Solutions to preserve the hotel’s history while restoring its elegant charm.
“When you’re in Historic Downtown Bryan, there’s something that lights up within you that makes you want to hold on to it and make it the best it can be,” said Cameron Collazo, Events and Sales Manager at The LaSalle Hotel. “New Castle recognized that this was an important place they wanted to revitalize for the community.”
Original elements of the building include the lobby floors, the elevator dial, the exterior brick, and glass ceiling tiles that were carefully cleaned and restored by hand. Other nods to its storied past are found in the train motifs throughout the rooms, and its restaurant — Station 36, home to the original hotel bar. Downstairs, guests can enjoy a speakeasy atmosphere in The Boiler Room, located in a former storage area that is adjacent to (you guessed it), the old boiler room.
Down the street, the now-tallest building in downtown is also finding new life as a grain-to-glass distillery. Caleb Clanton, founder of Hush & Whisper Distilling Co., is a Bryan native who wanted to give the historic Varisco building (which also sat vacant for several years) a new purpose.
The Varisco Building was initially built in the 1940s with aid from Biagio Varisco, a farmer in the Brazos Valley who facilitated a lot of development in Historic Downtown Bryan. It transitioned from a JC Penney to an office building, to a furniture store, and then to an emergency response center, before opening as a local distillery and tasting room in 2023.
Throughout a two-year renovation process, Clanton worked with the Texas Historical Commission to preserve historic aspects of the building while working with the City of Bryan to make it functional as a distillery. In the former annex room and storage space (where a plow from the 1800s was found during renovations), Hush & Whisper mills and ferments grain from local farmers in the Brazos Valley, preparing it to be distilled and bottled in-house.
There was one major (approved) structural change: a hole, cut into the basement, to make space for the still to be on full display in the tasting room. This touch adds to the building’s original Art Deco style, especially seen along staircase handrails and around the bar. Former display windows at the front of the building, where JC Penney used to showcase seasonal fashions, is now a seating area where guests can sip craft cocktails and admire Historic Downtown.
During distillery tours, guests not only learn about the process Hush & Whisper uses to turn local grain into high-quality whiskey, vodka, and gin, they also learn about the building and the stories it holds, like the tale behind Mr. Varisco’s safes, now on display in the tasting room.
“The Varisco Building ties into our brand and who we are,” explained Clanton. “We want to share what it has been and how it’s not done creating memories. It’s not done creating stories.”
This is true for many of the historic landmarks that have been revitalized in Historic Downtown Bryan. Throughout the area, formerly vacant and dilapidated buildings have been restored as coffee shops, music venues, and movie theaters, primed to create more memories.
The City of Bryan has played a large part in these restoration efforts with the Downtown Improvement Program, a matching grant program that assists downtown property owners with restoring and preserving the historical fabric and character of Downtown Bryan. Since the program’s adoption in 2001, approximately 70 properties have had restoration assistance.
Alongside structural preservation, the City of Bryan and its community are working to preserve the stories that are tied to historic buildings. Destination Bryan, the local destination marketing organization, shares local history and recent revitalization in the “Legend Reborn” video series. In 2023, the City of Bryan also updated the Historic Preservation Plan to include an interactive online map featuring stories and photos of historic buildings in Bryan.
“Preserving not only our historic structures, but the stories Bryan citizens have and pass down through generations, provide for a window to our past,” said Allison Kay, Planning Administrator and Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Bryan. “The historic structures and the stories of the past help shape what Bryan is today. By continuing to preserve these aspects, we aim to share this knowledge with generations to come.”
