GALVESTON, Texas— A $1 million donation by snack food giant Frito-Lay is about to help fund a $3.5 million makeover for part of the island’s Fort Crockett Park.
The city council voted Thursday to award the first of two contracts for an improvement project at Hampton Battery on the seawall to Baytown company Cox Commercial Construction.
Snack-foods manufacturer Frito-Lay made its donation after the Fort Crockett area between 45th Street and Izard Battery at 51st Street was hit hard by Hurricane Ike in September 2008.
Since then, the city has been hoping to leverage the money to get $4 million through consultant The Goodman Group, with plans to create an urban park in the Fort Crockett district.
The council members were shown illustrations of how Hampton Battery will look after its 19-week makeover is complete.
A second contract, for specialist company Fabritec to build a fabric shade structure in the center of the battery park, will be decided early next year.
Together, the two contracts are worth $900,000, and the remaining Frito-Lay money will go toward other projects, including improving the bus shelters and sidewalks in the Fort Crockett area.
Altogether, the federal government has approved $7.5 million for work in the area, Goodman Group boss Barry Goodman said Friday.
"We have an application for a transportation improvement grant of between $5 million and $7 million through Houston-Galveston Area Council," he said.
The transportation expert said a $15 million beautification project for Seawall Boulevard is due to follow the Fort Crockett Park program when funds become available.
The council members voted 6-0 to approve the Cox contract in a general vote that covered a further five action items. Councilman Rusty Legg was absent at the time of the vote.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com’s partnership with the Galveston County Daily News.
