WATCH: Iconic Blue Flame Building lights up downtown El Paso skyline
EL PASO, Texas -- On Tuesday night, the blue flame atop the former El Paso Natural Gas building in downtown El Paso was shining bright once again.
The lighting came after a grand opening ceremony held earlier in the day for the re-named Blue Flame Building at 304 Texas Avenue, which is now owned by the Housing Authority of El Paso.
It was a $36 million project to completely redevelop the iconic 18-story building that first opened in 1954. The building was converted from office space into a mixed-use development that features 120 affordable apartments.
The refurbishing project used both tax incentives for historically designated buildings and affordable-housing tax credits, together with private financing.
The blue flame atop of the building is also connected to AccuWeather and will light up depending on weather conditions: "When the flame is blue, no change is due. When the flame is red, warmer weather's ahead. When the flame is gold, cooler weather's foretold. A flickering flame means wind, snow or rain."
