Kingsland Chamber gets LCRA grant for community hall renovations
Lower Colorado River Authority representatives present a $25,000 grant to the Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce for renovations to the hall at Kingsland Community Park. Pictured (from left) are chamber Director Andy Virdell (left), Treasurer Mason King, office manager Darlene Zubkus, Director Gregg Miller, President Melody Yanniell, Director Mary Ann Atwood, LCRA board member Margaret Voelter, Llano County Precinct 3 Commissioner Mike Sandoval, chamber Director Cynthia Green, LCRA Regional Affairs representative Susan Patten, chamber Chief Ambassador Cheri Finkelstein, and chamber Secretary Barbara Rosenberger. Photo courtesy of LCRA
The Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce received a $25,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority to renovate the hall at Kingsland Community Park, 155 Lions Park Road.
Along with a matching $36,000 from the chamber, the money will be used to improve the kitchen, bathroom, flooring, and lighting and add a new patio, roof, and windows to the hall. The chamber maintains the public park and hall in the unincorporated community of Kingsland.
“This is really the final piece to upgrading our community park,” said chamber President Melody Yanniell in a media release from the LCRA. “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.”
The chamber received one of the 44 grants awarded by the LCRA through its Community Development Partnership program, which helps fund capital improvement projects by local organizations in the authority’s service area.
According to the media release, the chamber has been making steady upgrades to the hall and Kingsland Community Park after the flood of October 2018 caused extensive damage to the public space.
The hall is one of Kingsland’s few community meeting spaces. It has been used for weddings, family reunions, candidate forums, haunted houses at Halloween, and more. According to Yanniell, it will be available to rent once upgrades are completed.
“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,” she said.