Austin to be official home of Texas’ gold stockpile

We (and by “we” I mean the Austin area) will be home of the new Texas Bullion Depository, an ambitious peculiarity that once fueled a round of secessionist talk.

The exact location of the TBD is TBD, but state Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Wednesday that Austin-based Lone Star Tangible Assets has been selected to build and operate the facility.

It’ll start out in January at the firm’s existing North Austin vault and eventually move to a to-be-built facility for storing gold bullion and other metals considered precious.

Matthew Ferris, Lone Star Tangible Assets chairman, said the new facility will be 35,000 to 75,000 square feet, so there should be plenty of room and far more security for the gold bullion now under your bed or out back in your shed.

Hegar made the announcement at a very disappointing Wednesday news conference at the Capitol. Thanks to the presence of security folks and Comptroller’s Office camera crews, the room was pregnant with the promise of the presence of gold bars, perhaps wheeled in on carts, perhaps while Hegar sang “Goldfinger” and perhaps with free samples.

Nope. Just suited men talking suitably. But the talk was big, replete with superlatives about how Texas is doing something no other state has done.

Texas often does some things no other state has done. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it has that “Hey, watch this!” feel that sometimes foreshadows tragedy.

“This has been a monumental undertaking,” Hegar said, calling the bullion depository idea “a very complex project with many unique challenges.”

Ferris, whose firm beat out five others for the five-year contract, called this “a monumental moment in the history