By Megan Wehring
BUDA — Despite the fact that the Buda City Council denied converting the former library into a new welcome center which would cost nearly $1 million, the Destination Services department will move into the former library building, utilizing the space with new furniture, fixtures and equipment (FFE).
On Jan. 18, the city council rejected all bids for the renovation at 303 Main Street, a building that would give more efficient space for the Destination Services department in downtown Buda.
“We are looking to create more space,” said Lysa Gonzalez, Destination Services director. “Right now, staff has very limited space and functionality in our current office. So, this space allows for us to have space for our growing staff and provide functionality that our community is needing without having to build a new building.”
Gonzalez added that the department is needing more visibility, along with accessibility, for both the businesses within the city and the department’s staff. The department is currently housed at the Stagecoach house, located at 880 Main St, where staff have experienced pest problems, climate issues and increased maintenance costs.
Plans for the renovation project were set in motion in 2019; the total for the project was set to be $916,021, with $770,000 in total allocated hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funds and $163,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Construction bid invitations were issued in November 2021 and out of the six bids received, the city recommended that Mooring Recovery Services, Inc. be awarded the contract for $694,014.02
While Mooring did offer the lowest bid, council members were still concerned about the cost.
“When we started this, we were talking about $300,000 and it’s tripled now,” said Paul Daugereau, council member. “We are getting closer to a million now to redo this and I was hoping for something less in cost. It’s pretty up there.”
Council member Terry Cummings echoed Daugereau’s concerns regarding costs, highlighting that the former library’s renovations would leave the historical Stagecoach House empty for some time.
“I immediately jump to we have more costs because we can’t lose Stagecoach House,” Cummings said. “It just flows right into the need to rehabilitate that building and the cost associated with that. … I’m a lot concerned about the cost associated with this particular project for the welcome center and wondering what that’s going to mean, very shortly, for Stagecoach House because an empty building deteriorates that much faster.”
