Island receives $1 million grant for birding center

A sign marks the future site of the World Birding and Nature Center on South Padre Island.  (Island Breeze)

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission awarded a million dollar grant to South Padre Island for the World Birding and Nature Center last week.

“The commission directed the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to allocate the $1 million in matching funds,” according to a TPWD news release.

The grant was approved during a commission meeting Aug. 24, said Tim Hogsett, director of the parks grant program.

SPI Convention and Visitor’s Bureau communications coordinator Melissa Zamora said the Economic Development Corporation, which is in charge of the project, submitted an application for funds July 31.

The town did not compete against anyone to receive this grant, Hogsett said.

The grant money will be pulled from the Texas Recreation and Parks Account, which was “drastically reduced” this year. In 2002-2003 the fund had more than $20 million in grant money and now has approximately $5.6 million, Hogsett said.  The TPWD decided there were other priorities that the money should be used for, he added.

The TRPA collects funds from a dedicated portion of sales tax from sporting goods, Hogsett said.

The money will be released to the town as a reimbursement grant.

“As they do work, they will show us the [proofs of expenditures] and we will reimburse them,” Hogsett said. “Over all, this will be a good project. It’s a good location, and it will be a very interesting interpretive facility.”

Hogsett said the Island can apply for competitive grants as well. The deadline is in January, he added.

EDC president Richard Franke said he is pleased the funds were secured.

“Sen. Eddie Lucio realizes how important the center is and what economic impact it can have on the area,” Franke said. “It is an ideal amenity South Padre Island needs. It’s for people of all ages from children to senior citizens.”

In a letter written Aug. 16 to Joseph B.C. Fitzsimons, the TPWD chairman, Lucio stated his support for the birding center.

“I am a strong proponent of the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center and believe it would be a great addition to the citizens of South Texas and the tourists visiting South Padre Island,” Lucio wrote. “There is a great need for nature related tourism facilities and educating the school children and the entire community regarding environmental awareness.”

Franke said the $1 million grant is “well justified.”

But not everyone is happy about the grant. The Texas Association of Counties published a “legislative alert” written by Dock Jackson Jr., director of the City of Elgin Parks and Recreation Department.

Although there is already $2.1 million in funds from the TRPA earmarked World Birding Center projects in Edinburg, Hidalgo, Harlingen and McAllen, Jackson wrote, “they did it the correct way and went through the grant process like the rest of us do.”

Jackson told the Island Breeze that the alert was from “so long ago” and that he is “not opposed to the birding center itself.”

“I just felt that there was an enequity with a special deal made to help one area of the state and not the rest,” Jackson said. “The original rider was for $3 million and that’s why people were outraged.”

The birding center is a great project, Jackson said, but the process for funding was “not fair” to the 254 counties and “thousands of cities” in the state.

For now, the estimated cost of construction is $6 million but the EDC is working to “realistically” aim at getting the project under $5 million, Franke said.

To do so, Franke said floor plans will likely be adjusted.

“We’ll probably reduce the exhibit hall by 50 percent but still have sufficient space for attractive displays,” Franke said.

The Island’s matching funds will likely come from the sales of revenue bonds, he said.