ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The current Mark Twain Building, which is formerly known as the Mark Twain Hotel in Elmira, is being used for office spaces and is being refurbished to be used as apartments again. While you can't check into the hotel anymore, you can walk through the Mark Twain Hotel History Museum on the first floor, where you’ll find photos, pamphlets, and other relics of the former hotel. 

“So, the Mark Twain building was conceived somewhere in the late 1920s. It came to fruition and construction started in 1928. The hotel was completed in 1929,” said Jim Capriotti, owner of the Mark Twain Building. 

According to Capriotti, the original building had 200 hotel rooms, as well as several ballrooms and restaurants. Two significant additions were made to the building throughout the years until the flood of 1972. In 1973, contractors bought the building and started rebuilding it. 

“[There are] 250 hotel rooms on the upper floors of the building. So, two floors were commercial and six floors residential. He took the upper six floors of the building and converted those into apartment units and two laundry rooms,” said Capriotti. 

Currently, on the first floor is 100-percent occupied by businesses or organizations. The Mark Twain Building was continuously occupied with tenants from 1973 until the 2020 when renovations began. In 2020, Capriotti bought the Mark Twain Building and with all of the new renovations, decided to move the museum to a better spot. 

“It was moved from the second floor to the first floor because it wasn't very visible on the second floor. It was protected pretty well up there [and] the majority of the traffic comes through the first floor of the building,” said Capriotti. 

While the Mark Twain Building is a historic building, it also has some broadcasting history to it as well. WENY Radio and WENY TV broadcasted from the building in downtown Elmira. 

“One of the early commercial tenants of this building on the second floor was WESG, which broadcast out of the second floor of the Mark Twain building. [It] was owned by the Elmira Star Gazette (hence the call letters.) That started in 1932, and then in 1939 the call letters were changed to WENY, where they continued to operate out of the Mark Twain building until the 1970s renovations,” said Sam Halperin, a tenant liaison with the Mark Twain Building. 

Capriotti said he and his team enjoy taking buildings that were made for one purpose and turning them into another. 

“A lot of buildings in Elmira that we have purchased and renovated were built for another purpose and another time. It's wonderful to take these and give them new life again [and] give them another a hundred plus years of existence,” said Capriotti. 

Capriotti plans to continue to remodel the apartments to look more modern. He said the second floor will be turned into a patio bar, with new apartments and office spaces, and the renovations and apartments should be completed by sometime in spring of 2024. 

If anyone has Mark Twain memorabilia, Capriotti said they will take the donations, and the person’s name will be displayed with the item(s) they donate. 

The museum is free and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Mark Twain Building is located at 147 West Gray Street in Elmira. However, the best way to enter the museum is through the side entrance located at 160 North Main Street in Elmira.