Christopher Rocha of Fresno is of course too young to remember the hey days of the Hotel Fresno– it’s been empty since the mid 80’s, but he’s interested just the same.  His collection of hotel memorabilia is on display at Fresno City Hall.  and he’s excited about the possible renovation and what it could mean.  He says, "  This could be the spearhead to get things started as far as realizing the rich history that we really do have to get something started here in Fresno."

It’s a prospect and a thought that has crossed the mind of Aaron Blair, the president and c-e-o and the Downtown Fresno Partnership. 

Blair says, "Tthe location of the project is critical too.  it’s within the high speed rail station.  it’s right next to the fulton mall area and any project that’s gonna bring addition residential development to downtown obviously is a very big bonus for us."

It’s going to take millions to transform the hotel into something useful again.  We toured it a few years ago.  It’s gutted and vandals have stripped it clean, but there’s still beauty within these walls, and many see value in bringing the Hotel Fresno back to life.