At nearly 90 years old, the Yacht Club Hotel in Port Isabel has seen better days.
But thanks to efforts by the city of Port Isabel and the Port Isabel Economic Development Corporation, the historic hotel will be restored and renovated as the city’s first culinary arts institute.
PortIsabelCity Manager Edward Meza said the city has received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration to fund the Port Isabel Culinary Arts Institute.
The institute would have a fully functioning restaurant and kitchen and include a kitchen incubator inside the historic Yacht Club Restaurant and Hotel on the 700 block of Yturria Street in Port Isabel, according the grant proposal by Reyna Network.
The proposal says the institute expects to create new jobs to serve approximately 92 to 155 full-time students per semester.
Meza said the city is in the process of purchasing the Yacht Club Hotel for a reported $750,000