The Belvada is included in a long list of Tonopah area sites named on the National Register of Historic Places, appearing under its original name of State Bank and Trust Company.
After the bank failed in the early 1900s, the building was renamed and rebranded as the Belvada Apartments but by the 1980s, that, too, had gone by the wayside and the building sat empty, falling into disrepair over the decades, becoming more and more dilapidated until it eventually prompted some to even consider tearing it down.
That was something the Cline family, owners of the historic and very well-known Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, decided simply wasn’t going to happen. They stepped in with a vision for saving the historic building and that vision is now on the cusp of becoming a reality.
John McCormick, the general manager of the Mizpah Hotel, is intimately familiar with the details of the renovation project that has taken place at the Belvada, transforming it from a decaying, ramshackle example of the past into a shining beacon of Tonopah’s future as a tourism destination.
“We are very excited to see this project come to fruition,” McCormick told the Pahrump Valley Times earlier this month. “The renovation has taken place over the past few years. It was a tremendous undertaking to transform it from an apartment building, which was its most recent iteration, into a luxurious hotel.”
Addressing the pandemic, McCormick said fortunately, COVID-19 has not had much of an impact in terms of slowing things down for the Clines. “The pandemic has not really affected the project very much. Some of the products needed, such as room amenities and the like, has taken a little longer to get in but that has not been a significant obstacle. Fred and Nancy Cline are very bullish on Tonopah and its future, not just as a boomtown but as a place where guests will come to enjoy themselves and take advantage of all that Tonopah has to offer,” McCormick stated.
This was no small project, either, involving highly intensive work not just to redesign the interior and exterior of the five-story building for use as a hotel, but to improve and enhance the physical structure of the building as well.
“We literally stripped the interiors down to studs, put new subfflooring in, new walls and in essence, rebuilt and strengthened the entire building,” McCormick detailed. “We’ve now installed new carpeting, draperies and beautiful mosaic tiles in the bathrooms. The lobby will showcase custom-made furniture groupings, hand-tailored upholstery and wood flooring. We’ve redone the sidewalks and installed trees as well as two 12-foot lighted statues of cherubs that will grace the main entrance.”
The Belvada is set to provide its guests with a variety of traditional room options, suitable to whatever their needs might be, whether they are staying for a single night or planning a longer-term visit to the town.
“The hotel will have 40 hotel rooms to include suites, double queens, as well as some rooms that will have kitchenettes,” McCormick said.
A portion of the Belvada has also been earmarked as retail space.
“On the ground floor, we will have two retail spaces, one on Main Street and one on Brougher Street in what is known as the old Nevada Club. The space on Main Street has been defined for a coffee shop that will serve a variety of coffees such as espressos, lattes, and a selection of Danish, savory sandwiches and more. The space on Brougher is yet to be determined but could easily be leased as an office area,” McCormick said.
All together, McCormick noted that the Belvada will provide 10 to 15 new jobs for local residents and job fairs to find those employees will be announced in the near future.
As for precisely when the public can head over to the Belvada and check out all of the amenities, that is still to be determined, though McCormick said he was hopeful that the day is not long off. “We are looking to open in October. However, we have not nailed down an exact date as of yet,” McCormick said.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com