Bandera County weighs new use for its vacant historic structures

BANDERA — Converting two local frontier-era buildings into Bandera County’s tourism headquarters with exhibits on local history and area attractions would cost about $1.25 million, under a proposal being considered by Bandera County commissioners.

Architexas recommended constructing a new visitor center building between the county’s former courthouse on 12th Street, which opened in 1877, and the former county jail beside it, which housed its first inmate in 1881.

Lobbies, staff offices and a public bathroom are part of the envisioned one-story center, whose large rear window would provide a great view of the nearby Medina River from a huge deck planned by the designers.

Architects Stanley O. Graves and Larry Irsik told county commissioners Thursday that the new center also would usher tourists to galleries created in the restored structures through connecting passages.

Displays on county history, local lore and insights about frontier life would rotate through the former jail, where special care will be taken to preserve scratches and scrawls made by prisoners held there during bygone times.

“They’re fantastic buildings, especially the jail,” said Graves, noting it was designed by Alfred Giles, a British architect who moved to San Antonio in 1875 and rose to prominence designing courthouses and other public and commercial buildings in the region.

Unused for at least six years, the buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and were jointly designated by the Texas Historical Commission as a state antiquities landmark.

County Judge Richard Evans was pleased to hear the aging landmarks haven’t deteriorated too badly, saying, “I’m very relieved that we have buildings that we don’t have to demolish.”

The Bandera County Convention and Visitors Bureau currently operates out of rented offices at 126 Texas 16, roughly a block from the historic structures.

Besides minor structural repairs and some cosmetic work, several structural attachments inconsistent with their original design must be removed, the design firm said, and the buildings’ mechanical systems must be replaced.

Interior walls and other modifications made over the past century would be demolished, as would modern-era exterior features like a handicapped ramp and a restroom.

The proposal by the architects hired last spring will now be reviewed by a local advisory panel before being brought back to commissioners early in 2018 with a recommendation, Evans said.

Breaking down the costs, Graves estimated $50,000 would be spent on demolition, $202,320 on the new building, $356,400 on the courthouse, $331,380 on the jail, $135,585 on site work and $31,200 on the deck planned on the south face of the new visitors center.

The architectural and engineering fee is forecast at $166,033, said Graves, who proposed a contingency fee of $110,000 to cover any unforeseen costs.

However, he said an expenditure of only $490,000 would be needed — if the county opted to fund the work in phases — to construct the new visitors center and do preliminary work that allows the courthouse to be used by guests.

Judge Evans expressed hope of securing private donations and grants to supplement hotel-motel tax proceeds to fund the project that commissioners voted to pursue in September 2016. His preference is not to use county property tax revenues to fund the project.

The original 2016 plan included space in the old buildings for satellite exhibits by the Frontier Times Museum. Its director, Rebecca Norton, said Thursday, “That’s not being pursued at this point.”

Patricia Moore, executive director of the convention and visitors bureau, declined comment after Thursday’s meeting, saying she needed to study the proposal.