Return to Grace

The old City Hall was once a showplace that towered over the streets of Rockdale until the grandeur was remodeled out of it over the years.

Last Thursday in a key presentation ceremony, Collier Perry told of plans he and his foundation have to make the century-plus-old building a show place again.

“We are so excited about being involved with making this restoration project come to life,” said Perry, of Perry & Perry Builders and who is the managing director of the Vision Historic Preservation Foundation. “Having grown up in Rockdale and raised my family here, I have always looked at the pictures of this grand old building and longed to see it come to life as the downtown center for culture and business it was conceived to be.

“This building will be the cultural center of downtown,” he said. “Can you picture the vision the 1895 City Council must have had in initiating the construction of this City Hall,” Perry said. “It takes my breath away to think about that, and we want this beautiful building to have that effect on others once again.”

That includes removing the bell from its current resting place on the ground near the corner of Burleson and Cameron and putting it in the reconstructed bell tower between two turrets that will also be restored.

City officials who approved the sale of the building to the foundation earlier this year expressed hope for the building’s new beginning.

“Listening to Mr. Perry’s plans for this building, the project will be a much-needed injection to Rockdale’s economic revitalization,” said Michelle Larkin, a City Council member. “The sale of the vacant building to the Vision Historic Preservation Foundation was a win-win for all parties concerned and I am excited to see this project come to fruition.”

Rockdale’s mayor agreed.

“Once completed, the restored 1895 City Hall, along with the TXDOT project, will have a huge impact on enhancing Rockdale’s downtown area,” said Mayor John King. “The restoration of the old building is something that the city just could not undertake because of funding.”

“We have big plans. We have big money in front of us to raise,” Perry said.

That fundraising for the renovation of the building is set to begin in January with $4 million as the goal.

Curah Beard, who was once the Rockdale marketing director, is in charge of the fundraising.

The foundation hopes to raise enough in the first year to begin some of the renovations with Stan Graves breaking up the project in stages the foundation can work on, Beard said in an email interview

“Some grant funding may require work to commence within specified timelines,” Beard said. “It is a goal to get the building up and running and able to be occupied as soon as feasible.”

As Perry pointed out, throughout its history the old City Hall building has been used for much more than the center of municipal government.

It was the venue for many social happenings, many seniors graduated high school and entered into the real world in commencements within its walls and there used to be political rallies held in the building.

Upstairs there were dances and basketball games in the building’s heyday.

The Rockdale Volunteer Fire Department was housed in the building for a time and it served as the police station from 2002 to 2019.

“This project is an economic development project as well as an historic preservation project. The outreach to prospective businesses will begin in 2021 once we have cleaned up the interior some and further evaluated architectural design options which have been drafted by Stan Graves,” Beard said.

Beard said the foundation will look for local, independently-owned businesses to house in the refurbished building. “We seek to incorporate promotion of the arts with plans of including an art gallery into the project. We will also be looking at creative opportunities to develop the lot behind City Hall. We envision recruiting a unique business that will create jobs,” she said.

“We also would like to cultivate a cooperative environment where a bakery, diner, sandwich shop and a five-star restaurant share a kitchen, but have separated dining spaces,” Beard said. “This project creates opportunity for local enterprises to be a part of revitalizing our historic downtown district.”

Lynn Forney Young, of the Milam County Historical Commission, addressed that aspect in her keynote speech to the local officials, news media and guests gathered for the key presentation.

“This is a chance to be connected to the roots of Rockdale. A city needs old buildings to maintain a sense of heritage,” she said.

She pointed out that historical buildings are a tourist draw and tourists boost sales taxes that are vital to city economies.

“Rockdale is not only proud of its past, but looking forward to its future,” she said.