Here’s why the Hotel Sabine site matters:

The city of Port Arthur has secured $300,000 in federal money for planning and study purposes on three brownfield sites in the downtown. Two will be chosen later — don’t fret; Port Arthur is lousy with contaminated sites — but Hotel Sabine will make the cut when the city attempts to seek further funding for the clean up. The hotel, ever imposing, will get the greatest attention.

Built in 1929, vacated in the 1980s, it’s the tallest building downtown. Ron Burton, Port Arthur’s director of development services, says it’s as solid as Gibraltar. Largely vacant since the hotel closed in the 1980s, it’s been part of the city’s portfolio for more than two decades. From time to time, there has been interest from developers, but nothing stuck.

In addition to its height, 118 feet, and muscle, the Hotel Sabine struts a Neo-Classical Beaux Arts Style. And, yes, we had to look that up. So it’s not unattractive, this imposing edifice Tex.

Beyond contamination and its disrepair, the hotel’s greatest downside is a shortage of neighbors. The center of commerce in Port Arthur shifted north in 1982 when the Central Mall opened on the city’s northern reaches. There goes the neighborhood. Big box stores also located on the high side of town.

Businesses may go, but buildings must remain. So the exodus of downtown commerce left the hotel standing on the corner, ever more lonely. And then it closed.

Enter Harvey.

Impacts of Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey have been felt but not fully appreciated. Specifically, we still do not know all of the effects that the storm may have on the city’s future. What Harvey revealed was a downtown that, after the worst rainfall in American history, remained dry. If you’re thinking about building homes and office — lots of folks are — dry is attractive.

This, too, matters: Although downtown is not bursting with retail business activity, there is some bustle. City Hall is downtown. Lamar State College Port Arthur is downtown. The Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce and related agencies and organizations are downtown. So is the Port of Port Arthur.

Nor is the downtown dangerous. Office occupants downtown sometimes remark on the light traffic flow, but not danger. The hotel is cater-corner to the Port Arthur Police Station, a good neighbor for safety purposes.

So Port Arthur people ought to take some heart in the city’s efforts on the hotel site’s behalf. Will federal funds provide the impetus to get the hotel back in operation? Maybe.

Burton insists private investment is necessary for the Hotel Sabine site, perhaps as office space for energy companies. The can’t-fail proposal hasn’t emerged, yet, but we must keep trying. The alternative — to quit — would never do.