Project Title: Construct Administrative Facility (FFS #R2AA)

State: Texas

Initial Project Description: Recovery Act funds will be utilized for one project at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Brazoria County, Texas. The lone project will be to build a new administrative building/visitor’s center on refuge property that will benefit refuge staff and the 35,000 annual visitors to the coastal refuge. Established in 1966 just southeast of Angleton, Texas, Brazoria NWR has never had a headquarters located on the refuge. For more than 18 years, refuge staff have worked out of a mobile home.

Located on the Gulf Coast of Texas just south of Galveston, Brazoria NWR has a key location on the Texas Gulf which helps Freeport draw one of the highest Audubon Christmas bird counts in the nation – more than 200 species. In winter, more than 100,000 snow geese, Canada geese, pintail, northern shoveler, teal, gadwall, American wigeon and mottled ducks fill the plentiful ponds and sloughs to capacity. In summer, birds that nest on the refuge include ten species of herons and egrets, white ibis, roseate spoonbill, mottled duck, white-tailed kite, clapper rail, horned lark, seaside sparrow, black skimmer, and scissor-tailed flycatcher.

October 2010 Project Update: Construction of the new administrative building/visitor’s center at Brazoria began in June 2010 by Lee Construction and Maintenance Company of Houston, Texas. Refuge staff anticipates the building project will be finished by December 2010. Despite delays due to rain, the company is several months ahead of schedule. The building’s wooden framework was completed in August, the roof was added to the structure in September, and the parking lot in front of the building is now complete. The 2,760 square-foot building, which will serve as refuge headquarters, will be made up of eight offices, a break room, conference room, shaded porch area and a visitor’s greeting area at the front of the building.

Brazoria NWR refuge manager Cody Dingee says going to work will be a very different experience once the building is complete.

“We’ve had wheels under us for a long time, since we’ve worked out of a mobile home for nearly 20 years,” Dingee said. “Most of the time we had four people working out of the trailer, but now with this new office we’ll be able to have more room and space for staff. The new building is definitely a big plus and will help us better serve wildlife and the community.”

December 2010 Project Update: Lee Gaston, refuge wildlife specialist, excitedly says the administrative building/visitor’s center “looks pretty good” and the contractor, Lee Construction and Maintenance Company of Houston, Texas, should be finished with the building by the Christmas holiday.

January 2011 Project Update: The much-anticipated refuge administrative building is now complete and will receive final inspection on Jan. 24-25, according to Lee Gaston, Brazoria NWR operations specialist. The contractor, Houston-based Lee Construction and Maintenance Company, is wrapping up interior finishing touches such as fixtures and wiring.

Gaston says the new facility will have a positive effect on refuge staff and their ability to serve wildlife and refuge visitors.

“The moral is definitely going to go up with this new building,” Gaston explains. “We were cramped in a trailer for so long, but now we’ll have adequate office space for staff and it’s going to be a nice base for visitors to come and get information and attend refuge events.”

The new building also includes an office for the refuge law enforcement officer, who will save the Service time and money by no longer having to travel across the county to perform his work duties, Gaston adds.

“The building is a long time coming and we’re very happy,” he says.

Want to learn more about this project? Check out the Brazoria NWR Fact Sheet!

For more information on the completion of this project check out the Brazoria NWR Completion Fact Sheet!

Photos:

Video:

Originally posted 06/14/2010
Updated 10/08/2010
Updated 12/02/2010
Updated 01/13/2011
Updated 01/27/2011
Page Completed 05/05/2011