Texas icon facing total teardown as Hurricane Beryl leaves $5M nightmare

After Hurricane Beryl battered Brazoria County's monument to the "Father of Texas," Stephen F. Austin officials say the 76-foot statue needs more than just repairs. It requires a full reconstruction, which might cost up to $5 million.

According to The Facts, engineers determined that the statue, located beside Highway 288, needs to be taken down and rebuilt. Brazoria County Parks Director Bryan Frazier said officials are reportedly at least $500,000 short of the lowest rebuilding estimate. The state and county have allocated $1.5 million for the project.

The statue was constructed in 2006 and features an unpainted steel framework covered in sculpted concrete. Over time, moisture seeped through the fractures, rusting the steel and weakening the structure. Hurricane Beryl's winds blew away some of those vulnerable points, exposing more of the rusted framework underneath.

According to Frazier, assessments revealed extensive deterioration inside the statue. Frazier also said the statue received little preventative maintenance before Brazoria County took over the property in 2016. A full rebuild is needed to restore it to its former glory.

"Repairing the SFA statue or fixing just the broken parts really isn't an option at this point," Frazier said. "The damage is extensive enough that it will need to be rebuilt."

County officials are weighing three potential options for the statue that include: rebuilding it with concrete using the same construction process as the original; Using fiberglass to replace the statue; or using bronze or molded marble, which would be the most expensive of the three options, coming in at $3 to $5 million.

"If money were no object, then like most anything else, you'd probably want to go with whatever the best quality might be, or what would last the longest with the least maintenance in the future," Frazier told the news outlet. "We want to make the most efficient use of whatever budget there ends up being available."

Funding remains a challenge

During the 2025 legislative session, State Representative Cody Vasut obtained $750,000 for the statue's restoration, and Brazoria County commissioners allocated an additional $750,000 in their fiscal year 2026 budget.

The project could cost significantly more, according to the most recent projections, but the combined financing was supposed to help cover the work.

Since then, county authorities have contacted their state senator and local state representatives about obtaining more funding for the Legislature's 2027 session.

Although lawmakers have indicated interest in looking at further financing, the county may not find out how much is available until much later in the 2027 legislative session. For now, the statue remains where it has for years, with the hopes that it can be salvaged for the community.

"Our intentions are to do right by and represent the folks of Brazoria County," Frazier said. "We understand that a lot of folks are passionate about this park, and the statue, and that he be honored with an appropriate tribute to him and his legacy."

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This article originally published at Texas icon facing total teardown as Hurricane Beryl leaves $5M nightmare .