NIAGARA FALLS—The once-elegant 12-story Hotel Niagara, built in 1924 with 193 rooms, is going on the foreclosure auction block.

The hotel, which has been closed for some time, has fallen on hard economic times and needs modernization if it is to remain competitive. It has been the subject of a mechanic’s lien, owes back taxes and has been condemned for occupancy because of the lack of heat and water during a reconstruction effort.

James T. Cook Jr.,a principal in Amidee Capital Co., and his wife, Judith, bought the building at auction in 2007 for $4.6 million plus $300,000 in fees. They had planned to restore it to its original elegance and to reopen it last fall.

Bankruptcy referee Herman J. Ginsburg said the building would be sold to the highest bidder at a foreclosure auction at noon Sept. 24 in the lobby of Niagara Falls City Hall, 745 Main St.