WELLS, Nev. (AP) - A historic Nevada hotel damaged in a 2008 earthquake is getting restored.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports the El Rancho Hotel and Casino in Wells, Nevada, is expected to see a new life after the small Elko County town received grants to fix it up.
The city has secured funding from the federal Community Development Block Grant program and the Nevada Commission for Cultural Centers and Historic Preservation to help restore the property. Restoration is estimated to cost about $500,000 to the city as well.
City manager Jolene Supp says the payoff will be worth it. The city plans to reopen the building as a community center, restaurant, and small-business incubator.
Originally a hotel-casino and later a community center and banquet hall, the El Rancho served the town of 1,200 since it was built in 1949.
A 6-magnitude earthquake hit Wells in February 2008, damaging hundreds of structures in town, including the hotel.
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