Testimonials
Laurel Ridge Antiques & Gifts
Gonzales Main Street in conjunction with the Gonzales Economic Development Corporation (GEDC), reimbursed Laurel Ridge Antiques and Gifts for projects completed on the historic three-story brick structure located at 827 St. Joseph Street in downtown Gonzales, Texas. The landmark business across the street from the City of Gonzales Municipal Building is packed full of antiques, unique gifts and serves as an Inn.
According to the owner, Barbara Crozier, her mom, and her did the very first renovations to the house while she was in college at the University of Texas. They spent tireless hours scraping old paint and sourcing hardware to bring the dilapidated house back to life. She started a design business in the back cottage quickly grew out of that space and moved into downstair of the main house.
The scope of the most recent renovation project included adding a railing around the second-floor deck, upgrades to the electric main, adding a bathroom in one of the second story guest rooms, replacing the HVAC system and other various repairs.
Gonzales Main Street, Inc. strives to assist in the preservation and revitalization of our Historic Main Street District. Through the transformational strategies of economic vitality, design, promotion, and organization, they focus on prosperity through preservation. “A vibrant downtown and successful Main Street Programs help move Gonzales in the right direction so that we can propel our community forward,” said Tiffany Hutchinson-Padilla, Gonzales Main Street Director.
“Funds from the GEDC, a Type 4B economic development corporation, are administered through an agreement with Gonzales Main Steet empowering Main Street to give grants to qualifying businesses in the designated Main Street District. This project helped add value and preserve the historic structure so the building can be used as a business and lodging for many years,” said Jennifer Kolbe, GEDC Economic Development Director.
Shear Designs
Gonzales Main Street in conjunction with the Gonzales Economic Development Corporation (GEDC) recently reimbursed Shear Designs for projects completed on the boutique and hair salon located at 805 N. St. Joseph. The boutique and hair salon opened in 2004. Before the boutique opened, the building was a gas station. The scope of the project included upgrading lighting, replacing old windows and awnings, painting the outside of the building, and replacing the fence.
Shear Designs is a one-stop-shop for designer women’s clothing, shoes, and accessories. Adjacent to the boutique is a full-service beauty salon.
“The salon and beauty shop were my sister’s dream. She has since passed away, but I’ve been blessed to be able to carry on,” said owner Connie Dolezal. “We have the best customers around and have received so many compliments on how the shop looks. Replacing the windows has made a huge difference. Our old windows were single pane and just not energy efficient. Our customers will undoubtedly have a more comfortable experience.”
Gonzales Main Street, Inc. strives to assist in the preservation and revitalization of our Historic Main Street District. Through the transformational strategies of economic vitality, design, promotion, and organization, they focus on prosperity through preservation. “A vibrant downtown and successful Main Street Programs help move Gonzales in the right direction so that we can propel our community forward,” said Tiffany Hutchinson-Padilla, Gonzales Main Street Director.
“Funds from the GEDC, a Type 4B economic development corporation, are administered through an agreement with Gonzales Main Steet empowering Main Street to give grants to qualifying businesses in the designated Main Street District. This project helped add value and preserve the building can be used as a business and for many years to come,” said Jennifer Kolbe, GEDC Economic Development Director.
For additional information on the Gonzales Main Street Program: https://www.gonzales.texas.gov/p/departments/main-street
Texan Heritage Conference Center
We “ACE Invest” are a real estate company based in Austin, TX. We first heard of the City of Gonzales in 2019 from our kids. One of their teachers told them about the great history of the city and this is when we decided to come and pay a visit. When we arrived, we were totally blown away by the charm of this little town nestled between two large cities (San Antonio and Austin). The people were very nice and many of them shared detailed stories of the “Come and Take It” historic event that happened on the soil of this great town. During our visit we also met some business owners who shared a potential investment opportunity. It was none other than 608 St. Paul St which was at the heart of the downtown area. We fell in love with this location and jumped right into it.
Over the course of next few weeks, we talked to the locals to understand the demographics better. We really wanted to do something good for Gonzales as it had such a great history behind it. In discussing the needs of the city, we quickly understood that there weren’t many places that could host mid-size meetings/gatherings or birthday parties close to the downtown area. 608 St. Paul was next door to the historic Alcalde Hotel that also had a lot to offer. Party guests could comfortably stay at this hotel while attending these events and the food also could be catered from the commercial kitchen at the hotel. This was a perfect match made in heaven. This was the time when we officially made the plan to convert the premise into a conference center.
Once we firmed up our plans, we met with Kim Tucker, Interim Director of Economic Development at GEDC and Liz Reiley, Main Street Director and shared our vision and plan about the conference center. They were very supportive of our idea and extended their hand in helping us realize our vision. Later when Jennifer Kolbe joined as Director of Economic Development at GEDC, she was equally supportive of the idea and the vision. Within a span of 5 months, we completed the renovation work and opened the center to public in late 2020. We couldn’t have done this without the help of Jennifer and Liz and many other city officials who were involved in several aspects of building the conference center from the ground up. We have not seen any other town that offered so much to small businesses and was very willing to work with the owners for the betterment of the local people. It was a fascinating experience overall!
We cordially invite all to visit our conference center located at 608 St Paul Street in Gonzales, TX and make the best use of this place by hosting your personal events here. The center has two board rooms and one big main hall and can accommodate up to 200 people. We have named the center as “Texian Heritage Conference Center”. We call the two boardrooms as “Almaron Dickinson Boardroom” and “Thomas R. Miller Boardroom”. The main hall is called “Albert Martin Hall”. As you walk through the doors of our prestigious conference center hopefully you are reminded of the rich heritage of Texas here in our small little town of Gonzales.
