LCRA awards $25,000 grant for Kingsland Community Park Hall renovations

 

Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber hopes to welcome more community events with building enhancements that cap years of park improvements

LCRA representatives present a $25,000 grant to the Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce for renovations to its community hall. The grant is part of LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured, from left to right, are: Andy Virdell, chamber director; Mason King, chamber treasurer; Darlene Zubkus, chamber executive director; Gregg Miller, chamber director; Melody Yanniell, chamber president; Mary Ann Atwood, chamber director; Margaret D. “Meg” Voelter, LCRA Board member; Mike Sandoval, Llano County commissioner, Precinct 3; Cynthia Green, chamber director; Susan Patten, LCRA Regional Affairs representative; Cheri Finkelstein, chamber chief ambassador; and Barbara Rosenberger, chamber secretary.
LLANO COUNTY, Texas – The Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce is renovating the Hall at Kingsland Community Park with the help of a $25,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority.

The Community Development Partnership Program grant, along with $36,000 in matching funds from the chamber, will allow for kitchen and bathroom improvements, a new patio, a metal roof covering, large windows, and updated flooring and lighting at the facility.

The chamber has been making improvements at the park since it was damaged by flooding in 2018. Previously, the chamber added new bathrooms at the park, and made parking lot, ramp, sidewalk and landscaping improvements. Benches and trees also were added.

“This is really the final piece to upgrading our community park,” said chamber President Melody Yanniell. “Our community and residents are always in search of a smaller venue that is fairly priced for smaller gatherings, and we think this will offer them a great spot for that.”

Yanniell said she is especially excited to be adding an outdoor patio and large windows that will overlook Lake LBJ and the park.

Additionally, the chamber will be installing a generator so the facility can be used as a shelter during emergencies such as tornadoes, fires, freezes and power outages.

The facility has been used for candidate forums, family reunions, weddings, showers and even a haunted house at Halloween. The renovations will make the hall an affordable and more appealing location for those types of gatherings and other meetings and community events, Yanniell said.

She said that following the renovations, the hall also can be used for events such as exercise classes, worship services, arts and crafts, socials, and other community-building activities.

“It’s our goal to have the space rented most weekends, and as many weekdays as possible, at rates affordable to the working-class residents of Kingsland,” Yanniell said.

The community grant is one of 44 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves.

Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in January. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

About LCRA

The Lower Colorado River Authority serves customers and communities throughout Texas by managing the lower Colorado River; generating and transmitting electric power; providing a clean, reliable water supply; and offering outdoor adventures at more than 40 parks along the Colorado River from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. LCRA and its employees are committed to fulfilling our mission to enhance the quality of life of the Texans we serve through water stewardship, energy and community service. LCRA was created by the Texas Legislature in 1934 and receives no state appropriations.

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