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Superior Mayor Jayme Valenzuela presented the ‘Key to the City’ to Miguel Sfeir, owner of the Magma Hotel. Mila Besich-Lira | Sun
Superior Sun
On Wednesday, more than 100 business leaders and residents from throughout the community and region attended the monthly chamber luncheon to get an update on the progress at the Magma Hotel from hotel owner, Miguel Sfeir.
Sfeir, was pleased with the crowd in attendance; he gave much thanks to Curt Pierce and Lynn Heglie for their friendship and support throughout this project. Pierce and Heglie were the ones who introduced Sfeir to Superior and the potentials of the Magma Hotel.
Sfeir gave a high level overview of the project and took questions from the audience. Sfeir plans to revive the four corners of Main and Magma; work will also begin working on the old pharmacy and the theatre as construction work wraps up on the hotel.
Currently the construction crews are waiting on the doors and windows to arrive from Chile. In order to maintain the historic designation of the hotel, the doors and windows had to be replicated to match the original structure so they were built in Chile.
“This is the time when the biggest mistakes can happen,” he said while explaining that they will be decorating and furnishing the hotel with the furnishings to match when the hotel first opened in 1912. The Magma Hotel will feature 21 rooms, six in the adobe section and 15 in the brick section. Each of the hotel rooms will feature a historic photo of Superior blown up to be the wallpaper in each room and other artifacts of Superior’s history will be on display, he said.
The building will have “soul,” explaining that the soul of the building is very important to him. The construction has been under the direction of Renaissance Construction, experts in historical restorations. Maintaining and keeping the historic designation is important to Sfeir. He also wants to see more events and activities that will draw people to Superior to visit.
Some of the questions asked were about the opening dates and rates. At this time the exact opening dates have not been confirmed but it could be as early as the last few weeks of the year depending on the final touches. As for rates, Sfeir explained that they are researching rates of other historic hotels to get a baseline.
Another question asked was how many employees will the hotel employ? He explained that the hotel will have three shifts and will need about 36 employees. A restaurant will be in the hotel for breakfast and lunch, but it will be a quiet restaurant not to disturb the guests. The old jail on the hotel property will also be restored and used to share more of Superior’s history. Sfeir would also like to buy the properties behind the hotel on Magma to construct an outdoor amphitheater.
Work has already begun on the old drugstore where Sfeir is planning on putting a new restaurant. Sfeir also owns the old theatre property and while he is still in the early stages of planning he would like to reconstruct the theatre to be a performing arts center and theatre.
Following the Q & A session Mayor Jayme Valenzuela presented a key to the Town on behalf of the Mayor and Town Council. At closing, Sfier was met with a standing ovation from those in attendance at the meeting.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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