Revitalization plans for Sulphur Creek are underway. Forward Lampasas, a local nonprofit organization that has filed for 501(c)(3) status, is spearheading the effort.
Eddie Bowden, owner of Coming Home Furniture & Gifts and a former Lampasas City Council member, began organizing the community group last April. Its membership consists of about two dozen local business leaders.
Developer and Bush’s Chicken franchise owner Deorald Finney is among those involved in Forward Lampasas. He said its top priority is to clean up Sulphur Creek to bring more recreational activities for Lampasas residents.
“Anything we can do to promote the city or bring people in to realize what a beautiful town we have here and what valuable natural resources we have,” Finney said of Forward Lampasas goals. “There are a lot of things we are interested in doing. Right now, the top [priority] is the jogging and biking trail along the creek.”
Bowden said he was motivated to take action after he saw the old AMVETS building near Sulphur Creek demolished last spring. He recalled how the building had been used to host community events, and it served as an extra parking space during special festivals such as Spring Ho. Now, the building is set to open as a NAPA Auto Parts distribution center.
Bowden believes more should have been done to make that facility a part of the community long term.
“It wasn’t really our property, but the city was always able to use it,” he said. “When it fell into private hands, even before it fell into private hands, I wished I could have had the resources to get that property bought when it became available for sale. I always thought it would be great for the city to own and have some kind of multi-purpose facility there.”
Forward Lampasas has had 12 meetings since last April, Bowden said. Eighteen of the 20 business leaders he invited appeared for the first meeting, and he said the gatherings have provided an open dialogue with everyone bringing a unique voice to the table.
Forward Lampasas has identified beautification of Sulphur Creek as its top priority for now. Bowden thinks the creek isn’t utilized at its highest potential.
“There is just something magical about a creek,” Bowden said. “Here we have this Sulphur Creek that runs through Lampasas, 3,000 gallons a day, and it is very underutilized I feel like. I don’t know the solution to that, but maybe getting this creek cleaned up and expanding this creek will answer some of those questions.”
Last week, Forward Lampasas conducted controlled burns near the Fourth Street and Western Avenue bridges to help rid the banks of Sulphur Creek of debris and foreign vegetation.
Finney said the project has been in motion for some time, and the organization coordinated the burning with local officials.
“We have been talking about it for a while. We just wanted to see if it was possible to do,” Finney said. “With the cooperation of the city and the fire department, Fire Marshal Bart Baker, and the people along the creek, we are just trying to clean it up, make it a nice place for people to enjoy the creek.”
Also assisting with the brush clearing along the creek is Precinct 1 County Commissioner Bobby Carroll. County-owned work vehicles have removed piles of trash along the creek.
Carroll admitted he was unaware of how dirty the creek had become.
“I had no idea till I got down here,” he said. “They [city of Lampasas] contacted us and said, ‘Would you mind doing some of this?’ and we said, ‘We would be glad to,’ but we had no idea what we were going to run into.”
Lampasas-area developer Mike Irvin of Irvin Steel Construction plans to build an upscale restaurant near the Fourth Street bridge that would overlook Sulphur Creek. He has spent months cleaning up the portion of land he owns near the creek.
Irvin said he is grateful for the assistance he has received from Carroll’s precinct crew.
“Bobby is doing us a great job,” Irvin said. “As Bobby said, they can only do what is on the city property, which is OK with me because I thought I was going to have to do it all.”
Uncovering who owns what land along Sulphur Creek from the end of its current walking path at Western Street to the Fourth Street bridge will be a crucial step. Bowden said he already has had some contact with one landowner who is wary of having a walking path behind his property.
Bowden emphasized the importance of a collaborative effort to get the community on board with the Sulphur Creek project.
“People don’t know what to expect,” he said. “That is the only thing that will slow us down.
“I don’t want us to have the appearance that we are doing this no matter how you feel about [the project],” Bowden said. “Like with this guy, we are talking about what can we do to help you. We can have some solutions for fencing or whatever we need to do. It has to be a win-win for everybody.”
Bowden is not ready to put a timetable on the cleanup of Sulphur Creek.
“We are just going to keep going at it,” he said. “We haven’t really thought like that. It is just every day try to get a little bit done.”
Forward Lampasas will host a meeting Feb. 28 at noon that is open to the public. Anyone interested is invited to attend the session at the Lampasas County Higher Education Center, 208 East Avenue B.