WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — City councilors received a first look as major renovations continue for the nearly century-old Memorial Auditorium.

Out of the $30 million in APRA funds, allocated in October 2023, about half will go directly toward the upgrades; the rest will provide rent for temporary offices while improvements are being made.

The major project should last about two years, and only four months in, almost all of the demolition has been completed, at about 75%.

“It’s going to be a wonderful space that the public can be very proud of,” Mayor Tim Short said.

With still about 20 months left to go into this project, Vice President of BYSP Architects Steve Wood said they are right on track when it comes to completion.

“Right now, we’re getting just about 75% of the way through the demo phase, but it’s exciting to see it today where it’s kind of opened up,” Wood said. “You can kind of see some of the historic construction back from almost 100 years ago.”

The major renovations include a new HAVC system, an upgraded entrance and brand new council chambers that will now be on the third floor where the Utilities Collection Department used to be.

“They were really excited to see it; they were kind of in awe of the cool open spaces,” Wood said. “It was cool to kind of explain where the new spaces are going to be and new departments and kind of see them start to visualize that in their head.”

“We’re kind of blown away at the scope and just the sheer size of this project and everything that’s going in here,” Short said. “As Anthony Inman [Construction] just told us, it’s going to be a brand new building just within the shell.”

A brand new building that city leaders hope will last another century while strengthening public relations.

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