This rendering shows what the Islamic Center of Lake Travis, 4700 Doss Road, Austin, was projected to look like at completion. However, the project was burned down Jan. 7.[/caption]

The Rally for Love and Unity is set for Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, to offer encouragement and support for members of an Islamic Center that burned down Jan. 7.

The event, organized by the Lake Travis Progressives, is set to take place at noon at the site of the center’s fire, 4700 Doss Road, Austin, in the Hudson Bend neighborhood. The rally will include drafting cards and notes of support for members of the center’s Muslim congregation, the group’s founder Mindy Gulati told Community Impact Newspaper.

The center was under construction but nearing completion at the time of the fire, she said.

Although Gulati said she expects a large showing given sunny weather, the project may move indoors due to a rainy forecast. The backup site is Vivel Crepes & Coffee, 1945 Medical Drive, Ste. 500, Lakeway, in the Oaks at Lakeway retail center, she said. The backup plan, if needed, will be posted Feb. 14 by 11 a.m. on the Lake Travis Progressives Facebook site,
www.facebook.com/groups/progressivesoflakewaybeecave, she said.

The Lake Travis Progressives was founded in December, two weeks prior to the fire at the Islamic Center, for “people in the community needing to be around progressives and support progressive values,” Gulati said.

“We are all very proud that Travis County is a place where decency and consideration of others is part of our daily lives,” she said in a news release. “Regardless of differing faith and beliefs, we treat everyone as fellow humans, and this is a more important value than any of our differences.”