Gulf of Mexico News Related Article
GALVESTON, TX — January 15, 2021 — The Gulf of Mexico Foundation plans to move its headquarters from Corpus Christi to [Galveston] island, where it will build a $7.1 million center for education, training and conservation programs related to the Gulf that will lure hundreds here each year.
The move will bring to the island up to 26 professional jobs and is expected to put Galveston in a national spotlight as researchers work to restore and educate the public about the Gulf of Mexico, upon which millions of jobs depend.
The nonprofit foundation paid $700,000 for the 1.8 acres of commercial property, 8614 Teichman Road. The property was formerly occupied by cable provider Comcast, which left the building after it was damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008. The foundation will demolish the old Comcast building and build in its place a Habitat Restoration Technology Training Center. The foundation also has acquired the adjacent 15-acre wetland parcel, which it will assess and restore.
The foundation paid $150,000 to a private landowner for the wetlands, ecosystems that provide habitat for many species that support economic and recreational endeavors on the coast. It plans to spend about $2 million restoring the productivity of the wetlands and adding walkways, observation decks and kiosks for visitors in a type of “sustainability park.”
“If we live up to our vision, we really could put Galveston on the map as the epicenter of habitat restoration technology,” Quenton R. Dokken, president and CEO of the foundation, said.
