ATHENS, Texas — Renovations at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens continue as we get deeper into February. In this week's edition of Hooked On East Texas, we've got an update on the progress.
“We’re still in the demolition, deconstruction phase," said Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center director Tom Lang.
Part of the demolition and deconstruction includes redoing the fishing ponds and fishing piers. Since the center opened three decades ago a lot of fishing poles fell into Zebco pond.
Not only is it a remodel effort, Lang said it's a recovery project, “I guess the most surprising thing is there were a lot less poles in that water, so maybe when we get to digging we’ll find a lot more of those polls and other unique items that people may have lost over the years.”
TFFC is known for housing some big fish including alligator gar, catfish and bass. But with the aquariums drained, many of those fish had to find new homes.
“We’ve got fish at Bass Pro Shops in Texas, Caldwell Zoo and Cameron Zoo and even some of our big fish took a road trip all the way over to the Memphis pyramid,” Lang said.
The almost $5,000,000 renovation is planning to replace worn out pumps, filtration systems and the acrylics that serve as the windows into a fish’s world - all paid for by private donations.
“And the good news is that some of the supply chain issues we had are easing up, so that’s very hopeful that we can continue to stay on schedule," Lang said.
The schedule keeps the visitor center closed for more than another year, but important work continues behind the scenes.
“Our awesome hatchery team here is still going to be raising four to six million Lonestar Largemouth bass to stock and our ShareLunker program is going strong, we’re looking to another great collection season, picking up those big 13-pound bass,” Lang said.
The angler recognition program and fish art contest is also expecting to make strides. This is the first renovation since the center opened in 1996, with many agreeing it was long overdue.
“After twenty-seven years, there was a whole heck of a lot of work to be done and we want to make sure that we’re the best that we possibly can be to represent the great work of all of our Texas Parks and Wildlife colleagues all across the state," Lang said.
If all goes according to schedule, the new and improved Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center will reopen in the spring of 2025.