Marble Falls remodeling house near Westside as alternative to Lakeside Pavilion
The city of Marble Falls purchased this house and property at the intersection of Second Street and Avenue Q near Westside Park for $92,950. The city is remodeling the structure to serve as a smaller alternative to Lakeside Pavilion at Lakeside Park. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — The house sold to the city of Marble Falls by former businessman George Ortiz is undergoing some remodeling.
City officials bought the property to offer a more affordable alternative to Lakeside Pavilion for parties, family picnics, quinceaneras, exercise classes and meetings, parks and recreation department director Robert Moss said, though officials have not yet released rental fees for the new building.
Moss told commissioners during the regular meeting July 5 that workers are examining the electrical and the plumbing of the house, located near Westside Park at the intersection of Second Street and Avenue Q.
Once that examination is complete, members of the city’s public works and parks and recreation departments will do the painting, Moss said.
In all, officials hope it will take less than a month to complete the work.
Moss told commissioners during the April 6 meeting that the Marble Falls Economic Development Corp. bought the third-of-an-acre area for $92,950 that included closing costs. Meanwhile, the city budgeted $30,000 for improvements to the building and property.
In other parks news, the city pool is averaging revenue of between $500-600 per day, Moss said. This is the first summer the city entered into a one-year contract with the YMCA of Greater Williamson County.
“We’ve had a few complainers about the strict rules,” the director said. “There are so many more who are having a good time. The YMCA has standards that are serious.”
Those standards include not wearing cotton clothing into the pool to what can and can’t be brought into the pool area. Some swimmers are given purple wristbands that allow them to swim in any part of the pool after they complete a swimming test. If that test is not complete, those swimmers aren’t allowed to go beyond three feet.
Also, Moss said he and city of Marble Falls Community Fireworks organizer Judy Miller estimated between 2,000 and 5,000 people attended the show July 4 on Lake Marble Falls.
“It’s really hard to tell,” he said. “We were both comfortable with 2,000.”
The reason for the large discrepancy is because of how spread out attendees were for the show, he said, noting people lined the shores of Lake Marble Falls, stood along the U.S. 281 bridge and congregated at other parts of the city near the lake.
“Judy Miller does it all,” he said. “She was from one end of Lakeside Park to the other a couple of days (before the show) and the day after. She invests a lot of time and money and effort.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com
