Veterans from Katy's VFW Post 9182 complete the presentation of colors and raising of the U.S., Texas and city of Katy flags at the June 10 grand opening of the new Katy City Hall.[/caption]

Several hundred residents and public officials gathered June 10 in downtown Katy to celebrate the opening of the new Katy City Hall, a three-story structure and the start of many changes to the downtown area.

The new building, located at 901 Avenue C, replaces the former city administration complex—which consisted of four different buildings and housed city staff and city council meetings.

“This gorgeous edifice was built without a tax increase, without a bond measure,” Katy Mayor Fabol Hughes said. “You, the citizens of Katy, own this building debt free.”

The $7.5 million structure is three stories high, features three massive clocks on a tower and is designed to hark back to the early years in Katy’s history when settlers travelled north from Galveston to homesteads on the Katy Prairie.

Hughes said the new City Hall was functional and energy efficient with room to grow, and the project required tough spending decisions over the years to fund it.

Katy has transformed itself from a small farm town into an area of “unparalleled growth” with the addition of the Katy Mills mall and numerous new housing developments, he said.

“Everything began to change for the better,” Hughes said.

Hughes also thanked public officials whom he said were the catalyst for making the new City Hall a reality, including five former mayors: J.W. “Skip” Conner, Don Elder Jr., Johnny Nelson, Doyle G. Callender and World War II veteran Ward Stanberry.

“Thank you Mayor Elder for your vision and foresight,” Hughes said. “Johnny Nelson, he could squeeze a dime and get 11 cents.”

In addition to Hughes, Katy City Administrator Byron Hebert addressed the crowd, many of which were outfitted in suit coats, dresses and cowboy hats in the 85-degree heat.

“Whenever you start an endeavor, you have to have a vision, and we had that,” Hebert said. “I’m here to tell you; we did it and it didn’t cost the taxpayers any money.”

Veterans from the Katy VFW Post 9182 presented the colors and raising of the U.S., Texas and city of Katy flags. The Katy Masonic Lodge 1439 and other Masonic officials from around Texas conducted a cornerstone leveling ceremony.

David Frishman, a local attorney, spoke about the history of the region and Katy—which was formerly called Cane Island.

“Katy is part of a historic tapestry,” Frishman said. “That community [Cane Island] is still here today; we call it Katy, Texas.”

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Glenn Hegar, Texas comptroller of public accounts, who lives in Katy with his family. Hegar said his ancestors came from Germany in the 1840s to Texas to start a new life and found themselves residing in the Katy area.

Hegar said he had been allotted 45 minutes of time to speak to the crowd, but due to the extreme heat and humidity, he decided to make his comments very brief and only spoke for about five minutes.

“They wanted an economic opportunity for them and future generations,” Hegar said. “In the next 15 to 20 years, another one million people will be living on the Katy Prairie. Katy is a great place to live, work and play.”