When you think of Elgin, Texas, you think of sausage. Really good sausage. But Elgin is so much more. Established in 1872, Elgin's quaint downtown district hosts a handsome collection of preserved historic buildings that date back to its roots as a thriving Houston & Texas Central Railroad depot town.
As part of the city's downtown beautification program, the Chamber of Commerce procured a grant from the state for the purposes of installing ornamental planters along Main Street in Elgin's Historic Downtown District. Working with a volunteer group that included Mayor Mark Holm, Chamber of Commerce Community Development Director Amy Miller, citizens, and business owners, RVi donated landscape research and design services for the project. In a series of meetings at Elgin's historic railroad depot, RVi's Mark Smith reviewed design and materials options with the group and developed a planting concept that would be respectful of the District's historic context, tolerate Central Texas' climate extremes, and work within a firm budget. An all-volunteer work team met early this May to assemble and install the plants and containers on Main Street, just in time for the annual Elgin Art Walk.
This month RVi's Park and Open Space team is excited to kick off planning for an addition to the Southwest Williamson County Regional Park, an active recreation park between Cedar Park and Round Rock. The focus of the new addition will be a water play area with a Hill Country theme of Texas springs and swimming holes. A large pavilion and smaller, "birthday" pavilions will also sprinkle the site, adding opportunities to cool off from the hot Texas sun and new gathering spaces for the park’s many visitors. Stayed tuned for more details as design continues this fall!
RVi's staff numbers are rising right along with the Texas summer temperatures. In the last few weeks, we've welcomed three new faces to our team - Gerald Grissom (pictured far left) has joined RVi's Houston office, bringing with him over 10 years of experience in Houston's planning field. Meg Kyle (pictured left center) is taking a break from the Landscape Architecture graduate program at the University of Texas to participate in a summer internship at RVi. Paul Cozzolino (pictured left) is a recent Texas A&M graduate joining our Austin office as a landscape designer. Paul will also further strengthen RVi's team as a LEED accredited professional. Next time you're in our offices, take the time to welcome our newest RVi'ers!
