The 1956 Sylvan Beach Pavilion, located in La Porte's historic Sylvan Beach Park on Galveston Bay, celebrates community values that generations of Harris County residents have associated with the Park. Social dancing, long a mainstay of the park, is celebrated in the pavilions design that features a 10,000 ft2 glass walled ballroom with a 3,600 ft2 circular dance floor. Whether the ballroom is used for dancing, or for listening to a music venue, or to provide banquet seating with a breathtaking view, the pavilion can continue to provide for our community as it was originally designed. Despite periods of conscious neglect, this historic building is now a registered national and state landmark, thereby providing proper stewardship so that future generations can enjoy this showcase venue on Galveston Bay.
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The Award Winning Pavilion...
In 1954 Harris County Commissioners purchased Sylvan Beach Park and promptly began the process to reinstate the parks musical venue that was a prominent historical feature since the parks founding in the late 19th century.
The grand opening of the new mid century modern Pavilion,
occurred in May 1956. In 1962 the park was desegregated along with other public
places. This opened the pavilion for use by prominent African American performers, including the legendary Louis Armstrong.
In 2008, Harris County released plans to demolish and replace the pavilion with a multi story hotel and convention center. This plan met a significant roadblock when concerned citizens rapidly mobilized to prevent park rezoning to commercial. However, following Hurricane Ike in September 2008, Harris County continued to pursue demolition, but this was finally stopped in 2009 when the Texas Historical Commission deemed the pavilion eligible for listing on the National Historic Register (NHR) based on the nomination submitted by Friends of Sylvan Beach. In 2011 the State Historical Commissioners unanimously granted the pavilion State Antiquities Landmark status.
In September 2010 the Texas Department of Rural Affairs (TDRA) announced that Harris County would be awarded a $4.5M HUD grant for restoring the pavilion. TDRA stated that the awarding of this grant was only because of the pavilions successful NHR listing. The County initiated the project in early 2011, when Jack Morman became the new Harris County Precinct 2 commissioner.
The ribbon cutting and grand reopening of the renovated pavilion occurred on 25 October, 2013.
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