The Echo Hotel in Edinburg is now closed.

The hotel was sold earlier this month to a company based in Austin.

Driving near Highway 281 and Closner Boulevard, drivers will see a four-story building with big white letters, the  Echo Hotel.

"It's been a staple in the Edinburg community forever and ever," Edinburg Rotary Club President Manuel Cantu said.

The Edinburg hotel first opened its doors on March 15, 1959. For over 50 years, it was the city's center for social events.

"Now the hotel is going to have a new chapter," Echo Hotel former General Manager and part owner Stephen Reynolds said.

Reynolds is now the hotel's former owner. He sold the hotel on April 10 to Zoho Corporation, a global software company based in Austin.

RELATED STORY: Global software company purchases historic Edinburg hotel

County records show the deed was transferred from Reynolds five days later.

"We need to pass it off to somebody else, a new generation," Reynolds said.

Reynolds spoke with Channel 5 News about why he decided to sell the hotel after running it for over 36 years.

"It needs a makeover, and it's very expensive to do something like that," Reynolds said.

Reynolds did not reveal the price tag of the sale, but records from the Appraisal District show the market value of the hotel is a little over $1.8 million.

There are now several cones blocking the entrance of the Echo Hotel, and the front door is chained up with a sign that says it is closed.

Reynolds says the new company plans to keep the hotel closed for a year.

"They are going to take a year to renovate the property," Reynolds said. "They are going to preserve, they told me they are going to keep the name Echo."

Historian and Museum of South Texas CEO Francisco Guajardo hopes the history of the hotel is preserved.

"The new businesses that come in, they would be wise to hold on to the story, because if they erase the story I think the community will feel less than," Guajardo said.

Guajardo says building the hotel was a community project over 900 people invested in. It's opening day made it on to local newspapers at the time.

"A number of things made it special, but at the core of it was that this was the center of community life," Guajardo said.

Cantu knows first hand the vital role it played in the community. The Edinburg Rotary Club met in the hotel for over 30 years, with many generations passing through its doors.

"When you go through there, you think of the folks that have come before us, and it's nostalgic," Cantu said.

Now he and others who created priceless memories in the hotel are coming to terms with the change.

"It's irreplaceable what it's meant to us, over the years it's bittersweet," Cantu said.

Channel 5 News reached out to Zoho Corporation several times, asking if the building would be demolished and what the company's plans are for the property.

They did not respond in time for this story.

Watch the video above for the full story.