By ARABELLA SERRATA
Special to the PRESSOn Wednesday, Sept. 25, the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce held a groundbreaking event for the new Historical Museum.
The museum is set to be built on the old SPI visitors center. A commemorative video was shot at the ceremony.
Jeanette Greider, Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer welcomed city officials and guests to the event.
Dennis Frankie, who Greider credited as a “visionary” for the museum, spoke at the event.
“14 years ago, Steve [Hathcock], Brod Bates and I sat down at a table in Steve’s store, and the three of us talked about how we could go about making a historical museum…We decided a historical museum would be the most important and lasting thing we could do for the city of South Padre Island,” said Frankie.
Frankie continued to say how all three of them took five dollars from their own pockets and made it their seed money for the project. Afterward, they “replanned, redesigned” and generally took more time than initially thought.
“But we knew we would never give up, and finally, the stars aligned for us,” said Frankie. “It’s a wonderful
feeling, to be at this point.”
Frankie credited the SPI Community Foundation for their consistent support throughout the whole process, even giving a million-dollar grant for the museum. He also credited the United States Economic Development Administration, in which the team behind the museum applied for grants for several years with the Reyes Group.
After many attempts, they eventually received the largest grant for over a million dollars to make the museum exactly what they wanted it to be. He continued with the Director of the Austin EDA office, for his enthusiasm for the project. Next, he credited the city of SPI for leasing the land for the museum and contributing $375,000 to the project. Over two million will pay for initial exhibits and construction.
Further fundraising efforts are planned, but the current funds will kickstart the project.
He acknowledged the contracting company, Keller Construction, for their work on the project. Frankie applauded them for tearing down the old building in less than three weeks. Frankie promised a “beautiful, sleek, brand new” museum. It is slated to be at least five stories tall, and the center portion is meant to look like a light station from the late 1800s. He added Landry Architecture as another critical part of the project and thanked them for working with the team and their ambitious vision.
The estimated construction time is eight to ten months, according to Frankie.
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