LCRA Presents $25,000 Grant to Lyric Performing Arts Company

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) presented a grant of $25,000 to the Lyric Performing Arts Company for new LED lighting on Tuesday afternoon.  This grant is part of the LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program.

The Lyric Performing Arts Company (LPAC) will be able to purchase and install LED lighting for the historic Brownwood Lyric Theatre with the help of a $25,000 community development grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority. The grant will pay for the LED lighting, which will help reduce future utility bills.

The Brownwood Lyric Theatre was built as a vaudeville theater in 1914. It later became a movie theater, but closed in 1959 due to competition with the Bowie Theatre down the road. The building was converted to a clothing store in the early 1960s and abandoned in the 1990s. In 2002, LPAC was formed to purchase and restore the historic theater. The LPAC board set a goal in 2012 to complete the restoration and open the theater in 2014, the 100th year since its original opening in 1914. Restoration is expected to be complete by late this summer and the theater will open this fall.

“The newly remodeled theater will be a major improvement to downtown Brownwood and offer a new level of cultural entertainment to the area,” said Bill King, LPAC board member.

“We are really excited to get this grant from LCRA,” King said. “It will help with the extra cost of installing LED lighting for the auditorium. In addition to being extremely energy-efficient, these lights will be dimmable, provide enough light for easy readability at seat level and be almost totally maintenance-free.”

The theater is designed as a multipurpose auditorium to be used for drama, music, movies and conventions. Many of the local schools do not have their own auditoriums and will be encouraged to use the theater for theatrical and musical presentations.

The community grant is one of a number of grants recently awarded through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. The program provides economic development and community assistance grants to local governments and nonprofit groups such as civic organizations, schools, volunteer fire departments, libraries, emergency medical services, museums and historical associations in LCRA’s electric and water service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves.

LCRA representative Steve Dyer stated that the Lyric was one a great representation of what the grant was designed for and that it meets the requirement perfectly of being a benefit to the entire community.

“This is as good of an example as Karen (manager of grant program Karen Rankin) receives applications for,” said Dyer.  “Whatever project that’s applied for has to be available to the entire community.  The grant is for the betterment of the community and best of all it (the Lyric Theatre) benefits the entire community.”  Dyer explained that what connects Brownwood to the LCRA is the Pecan Bayou.  “We’re all connected by the river systems.”  He further explained that the grant funds are made possible by the community through people using electricity.

Lyric Managing Director Eric Evans stated that the renovation of the Lyric is slated for completion in mid-September, but that date continues to be a “moving target.”  The theater is expected to be open during the Brownwood Reunion Celebration according to Evans.  King and Evans stated that the funds needed to complete the renovations of the building and equipment have been raised, in an amount of $3.2 million.  To complete other desired projects the board would like, would require another approximately $300,000.  For more information about the Lyric Theatre or to make a donation,