Museum Will Help SPI Build Sense Of Community By R. Daniel Cavazos |
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The museum will be housed at the former chamber of commerce building and will be transformed to feature the historical sequence of South Padre Island. |
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For years, the South Padre Island Historical Foundation applied for federal grants to help fund the dream of having a museum that would reflect community's heritage and tell its story.
Each year, it fell short of securing such a grant, even as foundation board leaders went about raising private funds to build a historical museum. Those efforts were successful, raising about $1 million dollars over the years, and with no federal funds in sight, the board was going forward with the available funds. "We decided to move ahead with what we had," said Dennis Franke, a prominent Island Realtor and property developer who is also the president of the historical foundation. "The historical foundation had been working on this for about 12 years, so we were going to get a museum put together." |
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Those plans changed in early July when the city of South Padre Island was informed that its application for a grant from the Economic Development Administration had been approved. A federal grant of $1.5 million via the American Rescue Plan would be on its way on the Island and eventually to the historical foundation for the long-sought museum. The city matched the federal grant with $375,000 of its own. Those two fund sources when combined with the board-raised funds meant there was now nearly $3 million to build a historical museum on the Island.
"It's going to lock in our heritage," Franke said of the museum. "It will enhance the heritage of this area. The museum is going to upgrade the Island in a significant way." |
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Island Realtor and developer Dennis Franke is leading efforts to build a historical museum on the Island. |
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Building Efficiently & Wisely The museum will be located at 610 Padre Boulevard, which is the former home of the chamber of commerce.
The plans are to move quickly. The building is being leased to the historical foundation, which is taking up all aspects of overseeing the museum's construction and selection of exhibits that will be featured in the facility. The first steps are to select an architect, engineers, and an administrator who will oversee daily museum operations, Franke said. It is hoped the historical museum can be opened to the public in about 12 months. The historical foundation will also be working with a museum services company in Houston that will assist in the building of exhibits while the museum is being built. The goal, Franke said, is to have the building and exhibits done in the same time frame. |
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Community leader Dennis Franke said the Island's arts community and historical museum will give SPI a greater sense of community. |
| "As the building is being finished, the exhibits will be moved in," he said. "We don't want any time wasted."
Addressing any issues relating to the museum site being flood prone, if that were to be case, will be addressed during the construction process and with assessments to be made by architects and engineers, Franke said. The museum will have a surface elevation of about eight feet, he said. "It would be nice if the elevation were higher, but it’s not, so we will use the materials and information we have to build accordingly to what is needed," Franke said. "We will be able to deal with those issues effectively. Any possible flooding issues are the least of my worries." |
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Building Community
Franke sees the museum as helping the Island to build a stronger sense of community. South Padre’s permanent population is small, about 2500 residents, he said, and without traditional neighborhoods commonly found in other communities it can be a challenge to build cohesion. "The problem with the Island is that there have been very few cultural things to do," Franke said. "We haven't had those refinements."
The museum, which Franke said will feature a historical sequence of Padre Island, will be one of those refinements. He said the Island’s development as an arts community, which is making impressive strides, will also contribute to that quality of life.
"What we're trying to do is to add more culture to the society down here," Franke said. "It will make the Island a more desirable place to live." |
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The historical museum will tell the Island's story through its many eras and feature historical events. |
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