Playtime is getting more interesting in Lufkin.
The Quality of Life development plan for Vision 2020 is well under way in the recreation and arts/entertainment areas.
Lufkin Daily News file photo by Andy Adams |
Rick Ainsworth, left, and David Steiner, both members of the Angelina Bicycle Club and the Deep East Texas Trail and Route Access Coalition, stand in front of the new 3.4-mile trail at Kit McConnico Park in the northeast corner of Lufkin.
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Joel Andrews/The Lufkin Daily News |
The 'Shades of Red' exhibition is now on display at the First Street Arts Center. The exhibition was a challenge for artists to do theme art work, according to Jacqueline Becker, center director.
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Hikers, bikers and walkers are already enjoying the more than three miles of off-road trails completed at Kit McConnico Park.
Rick Ainsworth was involved with the group that helped put in the trail. And his wife, Jane Ainsworth, is chairwoman of Vision 2020.
Rick Ainsworth is also a member of the Angelina Bicycle Club, which has around 80 members participating in a variety of cycling events throughout the year, according to www.angelinabicycleclub.com.
"I was out there yesterday, and there were people out there running, people out there walking," Ainsworth said in early February.
Teachers have also used the trail for class nature walks, he said.
The back-country type trail is 3.4 miles if all the dirt trail loops are followed. For cyclists, it's meant for mountain bikes, the type with suspension including shock absorbers, according to Ainsworth.
There is room at the park to expand the trail, and ideas include merging and lengthening the trail with a combination of bike lanes and roads.
One idea that could bring more cyclists to the area is to create a 20-mile bike trail on top of a proposed city water line from Zavalla to Lufkin, Ainsworth said.
"That would bring more tourists to town, if it came in the right side of town," Ainsworth said.
The trail is currently maintained by volunteers, who have been doing a great job, said Don Hannabas, director of the city's Parks and Leisure Services.
A plan to create Louis Bronaugh Park, named for the most recent former mayor, is already moving forward. The park will be located near City Hall.
City parks in general have been getting a lot more maintenance, with temporary employees kept on longer to accomplish twice as much work, according to Hannabas.
His department is in the midst of submitting nearly 20 project proposals, everything from better lighting at some of the older softball fields in town to the early planning stages of new services and facilities.
Winston Park is going a lot more natural, with the old pool due to be filled in — swimmers are now directed to the Boys and Girls Club pool — and softball fields closing in light of additional fields added at Kit McConnico.
As soon as fleet maintenance abandons its facility at the edge of Morris Frank Park, the city parks maintenance department, currently housed at Winston, is going to move to the empty fleet location, according to Hannabas.
"We're going to tear down the existing maintenance (area) at Winston. We're going to green that up for park use," he said.
There have been consistent inquiries about the creation of a skate park in Lufkin, and that might be something they would look at building, Hannabas said.
Hannabas spoke to the need to encourage private enterprise to expand facilities to meet the leisure needs of citizens, in addition to what municipal government is doing.
As far as existing city parks, there is still a problem with litter — although groups have been good at responding with trash can requests — and with graffiti, Hannabas said.
The Lake Enhancement Task Force is working to bring Cassells-Boykin back to life, said Mark Hicks, Quality of Life chairman for Vision 2020. Hicks is president of HPC Associates Inc., and general manager of JM Management. He serves on the Hotel and Motel Occupancy Tax Committee and the Main Street Lufkin Board.
"(Cassells-Boykin) is an awesome project and will be tremendous for the area. It seems everyone is working diligently to make this project a reality soon," Hicks said in an e-mail to The Lufkin Daily News.
The parks and lake as in desperate need of maintenance and upkeep consistently, but success will be had in the long run if the projects are approached one by one, according to Hicks. The city parks are well-maintained, and the city is making additions when needed, such as the bike trails, he said.
Arts and entertainment
The strategies for improving recreation, plus arts, culture and entertainment for the area include developing and implementing a master plan providing passive and active opportunities for all ages, according to Vision 2020 planning documents online at www.angelinacountyvision2020.com.
The goal is to enhance life through sports and outdoor activities opportunities, including those at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, plus additional and improved attractions, access to area forests and rivers and more child-oriented commercial establishments.
Mary Jo Gorden, wife of Mayor Jack Gorden, said the idea for the First Street Arts Center came to them during a trip to Hot Spring, Ark. They were sightseeing, and noticing that while Lufkin had even more amenities, it didn't have nearly as much in the way of arts, she said.
After putting the idea to a few friends, those friends started meeting about it regularly, the result of which was an art center and board.
The mission of the center is to promote East Texas artists with work that ideally captures the Pineywoods experience, the center's Web site states at www.firststreetartscenter.com.
The center has been open a little more than a year. While the initial concern was that they wouldn't be able to have enough artists to fill up a center, they have just "come out of the woodwork," Gorden said.
"And are very, very talented," she said. "We've had concerts, poetry readings, skits, book signings, outdoor concerts and movies. We're just trying to do something to encourage an appreciation of the arts, to promote and encourage our local talent, and hopefully at the same time to stimulate the Renaissance of our downtown."
A group at the center called Write Around Texas is made up of songwriters who meet once a month to play songs the group has written.
"Who knew we had a bunch of songwriters here?" Gorden said.
Artist Charlie Becker has opened a gallery downtown, and another gallery is expected in the next few months, according to Gorden. Information on Becker's gallery, which offers art and jewelry making classes, is available online at www.beckerartstudios.com.
The Angelina Arts Alliance is one of the greatest attributes to arts and entertainment in Lufkin, he said, for bringing performing arts programming to the citizens of Angelina County.
"We are grateful to have an organization like this contributing so much to our community," Hicks said. "With that said, I believe we are well on our way to continually expanding arts and entertainment in the area."
Revitalizing downtown
The downtown revitalization is expected to include restoration of the old Pines Theater, possibly for downtown functions, entertainment, plays, concerts, film festivals and more, according to a Quality of Life planning committee meeting in July.
Additional ideas are the restoration of building facades downtown, coordinating with brokers to focus on downtown real estate and assisting with grants when needed.
Other goals include providing business plans and guidelines for purchasing and restorations downtown, a plan for archiving original documents and building and facilities plans, and creating a bus system or route to take people downtown and to all Lufkin sightseeing stops.
The group also discussed the Pines Theater's need for much work to restore its art deco style, which will require much funding for the restoration. There are still a number of people who remember special events that took place at the theater, including auctioning of the first ticket sold when it opened, and sentimental firsts, such as first dates, kisses, engagements, etc., according to meeting notes.
The downtown area needs traffic, and the arts center has succeeded in bringing people into the area for various events, Hicks said.
Coldwell Banker has expressed interest in helping individuals locate downtown property, Hicks said.
Hicks said he and his brother, David Hicks, a Realtor, have researched properties downtown and assessed renovation needs. Restoring facades on downtown building is important because it preserves the history of downtown Lufkin and the original look of the buildings for years to come, Hicks said.
"We cannot let this area fall by the wayside and allow these buildings to go into further decay," Hicks said. "This was once a thriving area of our town and will be once again if we work to maintain and preserve the area."
Dale Allred is the new chief building inspector for Lufkin. Allred could not be reached for comment, but Hicks said Allred has shown his support to those interested in downtown property development. Allred is working on a downtown historical plan to secure grant money for development, Hicks said.
Most tourist towns in Texas has strong downtowns, with shops and lots of activity. Lufkin has the area to offer that, and should work to build it up, he said.
Brian McClain at Angelina College Small Business Development Center has offered assistance to help individuals interested in opening business downtown develop a business plan, and assisting them with making that dream a reality, Mark Hicks said. Assistance has already begun with some downtown businesses.
Renovations
and movement
There have been different people visiting the city to inquire about the Angelina Hotel, currently held by local owner Jessie Howard, said Barbara Thompson, director of Main Street Lufkin.
"We're expecting something definitely to happen with that, if it hasn't already," Thompson said.
The Pines Theater, now owned by the city, had its damaged roof temporarily restored to stop what was a large leak that had been being collected by a child's swimming pool, Thompson said.
The theater has been cleaned up, and an architect is working on creating renderings to plan for the best use of the building, Thompson said. The exterior of the building will remain as it was originally. The inside may be reworked slightly to accommodate the best service to the community for concerts and larger functions, Thompson said. Other ideas include the possibility of offering space for the community to use, or having dinner and a movie nights.
Thompson said she gets calls nearly daily on people interested in looking at downtown properties. One day recently she'd had an inquiry from people in Houston, she said.
"This looks really promising to us," Thompson said of downtown revitalization.
Hicks is involved with three renovation projects, including the Masonic Building, Henderson-Medford Building and the Wayne Jones building.
The Masonic Building's third floor will be reopened as an upscale reception and event facility. The Henderson-Medford Building, known as Lewis Furniture, is being renovated into a party rental store called "The Main Event," with retail space available on the side of the building. Construction on the Wayne Jones building will begin this summer, renovating it into upscale loft office suites. The long building runs along Angelina Street at the corner of Cotton Square, adjacent to The Lufkin Daily News office.
Moore Building Associates is renovating the Lufkin Federal building and will house its offices there, along with additional office space available.
The Downtown Diner is open next to the Angelina House and will be a convenient place for downtown patrons, or business owners to stop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner, Hicks said.
Studio 220 is expanding into the building next door at its location on First Street. Mullins Music Store has moved to the Perry Building, on the corner.
Other areas under development through the Quality of Life committee include providing accessible, affordable, quality health care, according to Vision 2020 information online.
Substance abuse is a concern for Quality of Life in the need to prevent and reduce abuse through: community commitment to prevention and eradication of substance abuse; to whole person rehabilitation of users; and to an aggressive program by law enforcement and the justice system to identify and imprison long-term dealers and producers. Re-educating dealers during their prison terms would allow them to return as productive citizens. Other goals under substance abuse include maintaining the successful Drug Court program, assisting non-violent offenders to overcome their drug problems.
Family and Youth is another concern of Quality of Life, with the goal to make the county a "young person-friendly community with job opportunities, and an attractive lifestyle and living environment," Vision 2020 information states.
Public safety is another piece of the puzzle. Maintaining a safe environment for individuals, businesses and neighborhoods is a goal, with work to maintain cities/county preparation and vigilance for national and man-made disasters.
Finally, Quality of Life improvements include providing the county with social services through a network that includes more collaboration and avoidance of service duplications, Vision 2020 information states. Help would be offered to children and families with parents in prison, to empower children to help them believe they can pursue educational opportunities.
Quality of Life concerns combined with the overall effort of Vision 2020 look to reach what is stated on the project Web site, that being that before the year 2020, Angelina County will become "an innovative, energetic and inclusive community with a common sense of pride and shared commitment to excellence."
