Church called ‘Landmark of Hope’
The Main Street Program got a heap of thanks for its work in helping to get the historic First Baptist restoration project a $150,000 grant.
Mayor Jane Hughson, during her first full week in the new role, issued a proclamation last week designating the church on MLK Drive as a “Landmark of Hope.” A day later, the San Marcos City Council passed an ordinance on the second of two readings granting the church local historic landmark status.
“Our Main Street did a really fantastic job pushing out the voting to our citizens every day to win the $150,000 grant money,” council member Melissa Derrick said.
The grant was a prize in a competition held by Partners in Preservation. which pitted 20 restoration projects against each other in a popularity contest. Anyone with an email account could vote five times per day for projects to receive funding; the top 10 would receive $150,000 each. The church — which was the only project in Texas on the list and was competing against projects in big cities from coast to coast — ranked eighth at the end of the contest in October.
Derrick thanked everyone involved in the project, including the property owners and city staff working with organizers to get the 110-year-old building restored. The structure has been acknowledged as among the most historic African American churches in Texas, and replaced a building that had been burned by the Ku Klux Klan.
“I would like to thank the citizens of Texas who voted,” Hughson added, “because we were the only Texas project on the list, and I know other Main Streets were sending out information in their areas.”
Hughson said that at a Texas Municipal League meeting she ran into people who spoke to her about the restoration project. Though she didn’t say so, thanks are likely due voters from far and wide who remember the church or who have ties to it.
“All of Texas was included,” she said. “Thanks to our Main Street folks for doing all of that for us.”
In other business, council appointed a member and an alternate to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) Board. Mayor Jane Hughson was appointed as a member, with council member Lisa Prewitt as an alternate. The second alternate position will be filled when the Place 4 and Place 5 seats are filled on the council.
