Galveston historic site being restored

GALVESTON, Texas — A former municipal building in Southeast Texas that survived the catastrophic 1900 Galveston hurricane and suffered water damage in 2008 during Hurricane Ike will soon serve as a community center.

The historic 30th Street Water and Electric Light Station that was built in 1888 is undergoing a $2.9 million overhaul, the Galveston County Daily News reported.

Marissa Barnett, a city spokeswoman, said rehabilitation of the 6,800-square-foot Galveston facility should be completed by late October or early November.

The project is funded through federal disaster relief money.

“The idea behind this project was to restore a beautiful historic structure and provide something useful and beneficial,” Barnett said.

Calvin Neill, superintendent with contractor Ardent Construction, noted the building was flooded with water during Hurricane Ike in 2008.

“We’re doing as much as we can just to reuse,” Neill said. “The goal of this project is to rehabilitate as much as we can.”

All the outside brick is being reformed and an exterior cornice that’s been damaged will be reconstructed using fiberglass, he noted.

“That’s all getting rebuilt per the old photographs,” Neill said.

He added crews need to fix some of the roof, but the building is structurally sufficient.

“We’ve dug down about 10 feet in some areas in this wall and it goes down past 10 feet,” Neill said. “It’s pretty cool learning about it.”

The meeting and community center space will add to other options on the island, Barnett said, adding it’s meant to complement the island’s latest mixed income development.