Category: Athens

Community committee gets four months to develop viable Cain Center plan

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Listen to the podcast above for more thoughts on this story from reporter Michael Hannigan.)

By Michael V. Hannigan/HCN

The long-running saga of the Cain Center rehabilitation project took another twist Tuesday night, but this time there’s a clock ticking.

During their regular meeting, council members decided to give a group of community members and activists until April 2 to come up with a viable plan for moving forward with the Cain Center. The committee is to be led by Steve Grant.

Details about the community committee and how it will operate were limited Tuesday.

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AISD says follow our read

Central Athens Elementary Principal Shannon Pursley reads to students as part of a new book club initiative across all three elementary campuses called Athens Reads Together. All pre-k through fifth-grade students were given the same book, which was read aloud at school for the first few chapters. Parents were provided with a schedule to finish the book at home with their child during the first half of November. (Deidre Pool/AISD)

By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Coordinator

Athens ISD has been hard at work getting all its elementary students on the same page — literally.

In late October, pre-K students at all three elementary campuses — Bel Air, Central Athens and South Athens — participated in the 13th annual Read for the Record event, which included each child receiving their very own copy of the illustrated storybook, “Maybe Something Beautiful.”

“It was a great opportunity for us to be able to share the value of literacy in our community,” said South Athens Elementary Principal Claudia Stiles.

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Athens receives Texas Downtown Association Award for The Texan

Press release

On Wednesday, November 7, at the annual Texas Downtown Association Conference in Corpus Christi, the City of Athens received the award for “Best Renovation/Rehabilitation/Restoration” for The Texan: A Landmark Venue in the competitive Texas Downtown Association’s President’s Award program for its impact to downtown revitalization and development efforts for the City of Athens.

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AEDC Community Development Grant provides $30,000 toward Fair Park stall replacement project

AEDC vice president John Trent presents a $30,000 check to Bob Miars, Henderson County Regional Fair Park board chairman, for the 2018 stall replacement project. The Fair Park Complex was a recipient of AEDC’s Community Development Grant program, receiving matching grant funds toward a multi-year initiative to replace the aging stalls. Pictured are (front row, from left) County Commissioner Chuck McHam, Miars, Trent, (back row, from left) Jim Bob Warren, Fair Park manager; along with Fair Park directors Charla Farrell, Matt Tyler, Ron Welch, Bryan Childress; and AEDC directors Cliff Bomer and Will Traxson.

By Sherri Skeeters/AEDC Business Development and Marketing Director

Earlier this year, the Henderson County Regional Fair Park Complex applied for Athens Economic Development Corporation’s Community Development Grant, requesting grant funds to replace 40 stalls in the front barn, at a cost of $66,636. With this portion completed, AEDC board of directors ruled the project in compliance and awarded $30,000 in matching funds toward the stall replacement project.

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Podcast: Council discusses new direction for Cain Center

Two years into the process, the Athens City Council is still debating the proper direction for the Cain Center rehabilitation project. Tuesday, Oct. 30, the council met and revealed a wide difference of opinion among members about how much the project could cost taxpayers. There is also now a minimalist operations plan that may be the Cain Center’s last hope.