Editing Port Arthur, Texas (section)

==Economy==
[[Image:Port of Port Arthur.jpg|thumb|right|[[Port of Port Arthur]]]]
[[File:Crude Oil Tanker in Port Arthur, Texas.jpg|thumb|[[Oil Tanker]] passing by a new LNG facility]]
<!-- uncited, out of date After decades of stagnation and neglect in the area economy because of a decline in the oil industry, Port Arthur is reviving in the 21st century.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} Several large projects involving the energy infrastructure are underway or proposed, the two largest being the Golden Pass and Sabine Pass [[LNG]] terminals. These separate projects under construction in neighboring Sabine Pass have brought cumulative initial investments of $2 billion, and will employ thousands at peak construction.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

-->Home to a large portion of United States [[oil refining]] capacity, Port Arthur has seen renewed investment in several key installations. [[Motiva Enterprises]] began undertaking a major addition to its western Port Arthur refinery, expanding capacity to {{convert|600000|oilbbl/d}}.<ref name="setx.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.setx.org/html/economy.php |title=The Economy of Southeast Texas Home Page<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203140/http://www.setx.org/html/economy.php |archive-date=2007-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This $10.0 billion project is the largest U..S refinery expansion to occur in 30 years.<ref name="setx.org"/> Premcor Refining (now Valero) completed a $775 million expansion of its petrochemical plant, and BASF/Fina commenced operations of a new $1.75 billion gasification and cogeneration unit on premises of its current installation, which had just completed its own $1 billion upgrade. These operations are supported by the [[Port of Port Arthur]], one of Texas' leading seaports.

The city was the site of an [[2010 Port Arthur oil spill|oil spill]] in 2010, when an [[oil tanker]] and [[barge]] collided, causing 450,000 gallons of oil to spill into the Sabine/Neches waterway alongside the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703415804575023471968893174?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5|title=Oil Spill Hits Texas Port|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=24 January 2010|access-date=24 January 2010 | first=Angel | last=Gonzalez}}</ref>

===Central business district disintegration===
The commercial center of Port Arthur was at its peak in the early 1900s. Together with the effects of suburbanization, which drew off wealthier residents to new housing away from town, gradually taking businesses with them, from 1960 until 1974,<ref>[http://pinklogan.com "Retirement and Looking Back to "the Way it Was" (economic tailspin)]- Retrieved 2013-09-10</ref> successive waves of economic recession caused much distress in the town. The central business district has many boarded up and vacant locations.

====Hotel Sabine====
The Hotel Sabine opened at 600 Proctor Street in 1929 and operated as the Vaughn Hotel until the mid-1930s. At 118 feet, 10 stories, and the tallest building in Port Arthur,<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131204092127/http://www.emporis.com/building/sabinehotel-portarthur-tx-usa Sabine Hotel]}}- Retrieved 2013-09-10</ref> the building is of [[Beaux-Arts architecture]] style, built with steel-reinforced concrete and brick on 640 steel-laced wooden cypress pilings driven 60&nbsp;ft into the ground. It was overdesigned and overbuilt due to lack of knowledge on the strength of concrete in the 1920's.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://panews.com/local/x383289729/Proposal-could-breathe-life-into-historic-Hotel-Sabine |title=Proposal could breathe life into historic Hotel Sabine |access-date=September 11, 2013 |archive-date=July 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703205856/http://panews.com/local/x383289729/Proposal-could-breathe-life-into-historic-Hotel-Sabine |url-status=dead }} ''The Port Arthur News'', Retrieved July 12, 2024</ref> The hotel closed down in the mid-1980s.

The ''Port Arthur News'' reported August 28, 2010, that "DWA (Digital Workforce Academy) Buys Sabine Hotel",<ref>[http://panews.com/x1237195870/DWA-buys-Sabine-Hotel "DWA buys Sabine Hotel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203183311/http://www.panews.com/x1237195870/DWA-buys-Sabine-Hotel |date=December 3, 2013 }}, ''Port Arthur News'', 28 August 2010, Retrieved 2013-09-10</ref> By November 2011, the hotel was reported to be slated for demolition. The cost of renovations were estimated at $10–12 million and demolition estimates as $500,000 to $1.2 million.<ref name="Demise">{{cite web |url=http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/18193360/notable-port-arthur-hotel-could-meet-its-demise 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223041/http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/18193360/notable-port-arthur-hotel-could-meet-its-demise |title=Notable Port Arthur Hotel Could Meet its Demise |date=Nov 11, 2011 |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |publisher=myfoxhouston |access-date=July 12, 2024 | url-status=dead}}</ref> As of April, 2021, Motiva was still considering buying the hotel, but remained uncertain and uncommitted to it.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.panews.com/2021/04/22/motiva-representative-to-port-arthur-leaders-we-will-continue-downtown-development/ | title=Motiva representative to Port Arthur leaders: We will continue downtown development | date=22 April 2021 }}</ref><ref name="Demise" />

[[Hurricane Rita]] struck a direct hit on the Proctor Street Seawall, and damaged many downtown businesses and homes. As economic activity picked up in the region, calls for downtown revitalization have been advanced.<ref>Sanders, Ashley. "[http://www.panews.com/archivesearch/local_story_233195307.html Plant expansions to create a housing boon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928140204/http://www.panews.com/archivesearch/local_story_233195307.html |date=September 28, 2007 }}, ''[[The News (Port Arthur)|The News]]''. August 21, 2006. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.</ref><ref>Rappleye, Christine. "[http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18775793&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6 The Beaumont Enterprise - Those who recall bustling downtown Port Arthur are still around; old way of life isn't] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194315/http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18775793&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6 |date=2007-09-27 }}." ''[[The Beaumont Enterprise]]''. September 23, 2007. Posted June 11, 2008. Retrieved on September 23, 2010.</ref> The true center of commercial activity has gravitated from downtown to other areas.<ref>[http://www.isjl.org/history/archive/tx/portarthur.html "Port Arthur"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203213817/http://www.isjl.org/history/archive/tx/portarthur.html |date=2013-12-03 }}, ''Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities'', Retrieved 2013-09-10</ref> The main shopping center is [[Central Mall (Port Arthur, Texas)|Central Mall]], opened outside the downtown in 1982.