FORT BEND COUNTY APPROVES EPICENTER PROJECT

Multipurpose conference and convention center coming along I-69 in the geographic center of the county

On Tuesday, February 23rd the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to start the development of the Fort Bend County EpiCenter project. The 230,000 square foot facility will be constructed on a 51.75-acre site near the southwest corner of US 59/ I-69 and State Highway 36 in Rosenberg.

The county started discussing the need for a large indoor facility at the County Fairgrounds campus as far back as 2015 when projects for a facilities bond election were being considered. The Commissioners Court later authorized a feasibility study that was completed in 2018 that showed that market demand exists to support the facility.

The facility will be able to host a variety of event types, including public/consumer shows, graduations, sports and recreation, spectator events, community/civic events, agriculture/ livestock/equestrian shows, festivals and fairs, conferences, and it will also serve as an operations center and evacuation emergency shelter for hurricanes or other disaster events.

The project will be built utilizing a public private partnership delivery method often used for developing similar facilities. The county will lease the property to a private entity who will construct the project and lease the building back to the county. The county will retain ownership of the land and will own the building when the debt is paid. Total development costs are approximately $120 million dollars and the project is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The county plans to have a public ground breaking ceremony in the near future and will provide regular construction project updates and progress photographs on the county website.

Child Advocates of Fort Bend Announces 2021 Gala Theme

Exchange Club of Sugar Land will be the Confetti Presenting Sponsor for Child Advocates of Fort Bend’s 30th Birthday Gala Celebration on Saturday, May 8th. The Gala will celebrate the agency’s 30 years serving child victims of abuse and their families. This fun, adult event will take place at the Sugar Land Marriott Town Square and will feature a live and silent auction, raffle, wine and gift card pulls. Michele Fisher will emcee for the 9th year. Johnny Bravo is joining her as auctioneer for a fourth time. Attire for the evening is elegant and festive. Black tie is optional. Child Advocates of Fort Bend (CAFB) opened its doors in 1991 with a volunteer Executive Director, trained its first class of CASA Volunteers and assigned its first CASA Volunteer to a child in foster care. In the last 30 years, they have expanded those services exponentially. “We now have two programs – Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and a Children’s Advocacy Center with comprehensive services to enable child victims of abuse and their families to get the support that they need to heal. The number of children and families in need of our services has increased 60% over the last eight years,” stated CAFB CEO Ruthanne Mefford. “We launched a Capital Campaign in 2019 to renovate and expand our building to enable us to meet the growing need and opened our Davis George Campus just before the pandemic hit. While the number of children

Exchange Club Members Leslie Woods, Carlos Perez, Paul Barnett, Brad Porter, Thad Olive, Vita Goodell, Rick Bell, Jeff Dodson, John Heinemann, Lori Bisewski, Jennifer Boley, Venon Hunt, Chanel Bermudez and Sue Sanchez.

we saw dropped initially during the shutdown, we saw a dramatic rise in cases throughout the year. In fact, we served 3,544 children and families last year – an increase of 24% over 2019.” To date, Child Advocates of Fort Bend has served nearly 19,000 children. “The Gala is critical to funding our programs and services for the children and your support has never been more critical than it is today,” said Mefford.

For more information, contact Tarina Sheridan at 281-3445109, email tsheridan@cafb.org or visit www.cafb.org/events/ gala/sponsorship-opportunities/.