LCRA awards $25,000 grant for new outdoor meeting space in Zimmerscheidt

Pavilion near historic one-room schoolhouse will be open for educational, community events

Nov. 30, 2021

COLORADO COUNTY, Texas – A $25,000 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority will help pay for construction of an outdoor pavilion near the historic one-room schoolhouse in Zimmerscheidt, providing space for additional educational and community events at the site.

With the Community Development Partnership Program grant and $31,920 in matching funds, the non-profit Friends of Zimmerscheidt Historic School will be able to add a 2,000-square-foot covered pavilion on the property about 10 miles north of Columbus. The structure will include a kitchenette, picnic tables, handicapped-accessible restrooms with low-flow toilets and a storage area.

Patti Glaeser, president of Friends of Zimmerscheidt Historic School, said the pavilion will provide meeting space near the schoolhouse and a nearby building that opened shortly after World War II as a vocational school for veterans. First built in 1857 on land given by Frederick A. Zimmerscheidt and his family, the school had one teacher who taught lessons for seven grade levels.

The school, which instructed primarily the children of German settlers in the area, burned sometime before 1884 and was rebuilt at its current site. It remained a functioning school from 1885 until 1948, when its students were transferred to the Columbus Independent School District.

“We have been trying to raise money for this project for quite a while – at least five years or so,” Glaeser said. “We’re very thrilled to receive this grant. Now, we believe we can actually see this project happen.”

Glaeser said Zimmerscheidt School is open for public tours, but the frequency must be limited because the building is in “kind of a tender state.” Until now, community meetings and events have mostly taken place in the veterans building, but the building becomes crowded quickly and has only one restroom.

With the addition of the new pavilion, Glaeser envisions opportunities to welcome larger groups in children’s day camps, community meetings, yoga classes, history seminars and additional events that include tours of Zimmerscheidt School.

She knows the school’s history well, having grown up just across the road from it. Her father attended Zimmerscheidt School, and in earlier years, her grandparents provided housing for some of the teachers who taught there.

“This new pavilion will give us an outdoor meeting place for the elderly and young alike,” Glaeser said. “We want to have classes of schoolchildren out there and tell them the history of that schoolhouse that has been there in that location for well over 100 years.”

The community grant is one of 32 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves.

Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in January. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

About LCRA
The Lower Colorado River Authority serves customers and communities throughout Texas by managing the lower Colorado River; generating and transmitting electric power; providing a clean, reliable water supply; and offering outdoor adventures at more than 40 parks along the Colorado River from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. LCRA and its employees are committed to fulfilling our mission to enhance the quality of life of the Texans we serve through water stewardship, energy and community service. LCRA was created by the Texas Legislature in 1934 and receives no state appropriations. For more information, visit lcra.org.

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