Community members and elected officials joined The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce Feb. 14 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate newly restored glass-bottom boat No. 1963.

The Meadows Center has five glass-bottom boats, the oldest of which was built in 1945 and the newest in 1978. The restoration of boat No. 1963 makes it the center’s first hard-top craft to be renovated with a new hull. The Meadows Center began replacing wooden framed hulls with fiberglass composite hulls in 2014 so the center’s fleet would be stronger and more water-resistant. The center will restore one boat each year, according to the university.

 “All of these boats were hand built by many different individuals, so none of them exactly the same,” Spring Lake Manager Aaron Wallendorf said in the release. “Restoration on an item like this typically requires a craftsman that can do that; everything is custom.” 201 San Marcos Springs Drive, San Marcos.