Galveston Island State Park Master Plan to be Unveiled at Open House

Media Contact: Rob McCorkle, TPWD, (830) 866-3533 icle__media__contact">Media Contact: Rob McCorkle, TPWD, (830) 866-3533 or robert.mccorkle@tpwd.texas.gov; Tony Bettis, TPWD project manager (512) 389-8382 or tony.bettis@tpwd.texas.gov

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AUSTIN – The last of three scheduled public meetings on the master plan design for redeveloping hurricane-damaged Galveston Island State Park will be held Thursday, May 5, on the Texas A&M Galveston campus.

The Galveston Island State Park master plan open house will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Lecture Theater & Foyer of the Ocean and Coastal Studies Building #3029 on the university campus at 200 Seawolf Parkway. For more information about the meeting, contact Galveston Island State Park superintendent Trey Goodman at (409) 737-1222.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will be presenting the final master plan design concept for Galveston Island State Park that will provide the guiding framework for rebuilding the park that was severely damaged by Hurricane Ike three years ago. The public will have a chance at the May 5 open house to view the design concept developed by StudioOutside (formerly MESA Design) and the Dallas firm’s partners.

StudioOutside and its team of consultants were charged with creating a design that will transform the island park into a premiere destination within the Texas state park system, in part by utilizing such sustainabledesign which is symbiotic with the natural, cultural, and recreational elements of the park..

The public was given an opportunity to provide input into the redevelopment design plan through an online survey and two public meetings last year.

Depending on the availability of funds, the earliest construction would begin is autumn of 2011, according to Tony Bettis, regional project manager for TPWD’s Infrastructure Division.

Galveston Island State Park is currently open seven days a week and offers full services on the bay side and limited camping and day use facilities on the beach side until a master plan is developed, environmental assessment completed and permanent facilities rebuilt. The 2,013-acre park occupies a sliver of land at the midway point of the barrier island about six miles southwest of the western tip of the popular sea wall. The bay side provides public access to about 600 acres of grasslands with coastal scrub and scattered oak mottes, as well as hundreds of additional acres of saltwater sloughs, wildlife-rich wetlands and tidal bayous.

Galveston Island State Park hours are from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The park office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The park entry fee for persons 13 and older is $5.

Visitors can reach Galveston Island State Park from FM 3005 (Seawall Boulevard). For more information, call the park at (409) 737-1222.

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