BIG SPRING (January 1, 2012)--The historic Hotel Settles in Big Spring has been restored and is again open for business after being closed for almost four decades.

The hotel reopened Friday with a ceremonial floor-by-floor lighting.

Brint Ryan, a former resident and native of Big Spring, restored the building, which was originally completed in 1930, but was abandoned and shuttered in the 1970s.

W.R. and Lillian Settles, local ranchers who found oil on their land, built the hotel, which was the biggest between Fort Worth and El Paso.