Township poised to create new heritage display

The Woodlands Township voted in December to accept a donation of materials housed in the community’s now shuttered Homefinder Center. The township will spend $50,000 to dismantle and store the materials, which include large-scale models of The Woodlands once used to show potential residents highlights of the master-planned community.

The Woodlands Development Company offered to donate the models to the township as long as it agreed to maintain them.

“We have a section of undeveloped space at the other end of the building, and we believe we could make that available to residents, Realtors, school groups or whoever would like to see the display,” said Don Norrell, township president and general manager.

The cost to develop the display space is estimated at $150,000, but bids for the project have not been secured, Norrell said.

“This is a piece of Woodlands history,” township Director Bruce Rieser said. “We really ought to save it if we can­—unless it’s wildly expensive to do so.”

Funding for the removal and reinstallation of the materials will be used from the township’s cultural arts fund. For every ticket sold at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, a 5 percent events admission tax is charged. The pavilion keeps 90 percent of the money, and the township receives 10 percent to be used for cultural arts-related purposes in the community.