PRICE CENTER REOPENING WITH NEW LOOK, NEW SERVICE, & LIGHTER SCHEDULE

After more than six months of little to no daily operations, the Price Center in downtown San Marcos is reopening with a new look, a new service, a lighter schedule of events, and the ability to host small, safer indoor and outdoor public and/or private events again. The Center plans to return to daily hours of operation beginning Mon., Nov. 2, and begin hosting right-size, COVID safe designed, private events as well. The slightly retooled San Marcos Cinema Club’s 4th annual Lost River Film Fest will help usher in the Center’s return Nov. 5-8.

Returning visitors to the Center will be met by a new look throughout the first-floor gallery and venue spaces. Several coats of paint in a new color scheme, and new hard-surface flooring in a destressed wood finish came about during the closure through the kindness and generosity of a few dozen donors and a handful of committed volunteer painters. The transformation is quite remarkable and, more importantly, the spaces are now able to serve a wider variety of uses and purposes from private to public.

The facelift is the first to the Center since the former church complex was repurposed into the Price Center by Ron and Marie Jager and a dedicated group of donors and volunteers in the early 2000s.

The Center’s newest service is the result of a new use of the two-story, 127-year-old, original 1893 chapel. SHOP 1893 is a unique resale shop that now provides ongoing funding for the Center’s operations. The main floor and balcony of the former sanctuary serve as a stunning backdrop for the eclectic shop which features a wide variety of items ranging from small furniture to household goods, home decorating items and hardware to architectural salvage, original art, upcycled goods, collectibles and more! New donated items are welcomed daily and 100% of sales proceeds go to assist the Center with ongoing operating expenses. A few additional, hand-picked vendors help flesh out the retail shopping experience and generate additional rental and sales commission income for the Center.

“Between our daily shoppers and several donors each week, the shop has proved to meet several needs,” said Clay DeStefano, executive director. “From providing a social connection, entertainment, and some very special goods at great prices, to providing a worthy cause to donate your unwanted items, to generating real funds to support the Center’s operations, SHOP 1893 is truly performing on multiple levels.”

Exterior improvements have also been made during the Center’s closure, including the addition of two benches and two bike racks along the sidewalk in front of the Garden -- courtesy of the city of San Marcos -- and revisions to plantings in the Garden itself are also underway.

The warm reception for SHOP 1893, a new Pop-up Gallery Show on display in the Garden Room, two back to back successful San Mercado monthly markets, and returning inquiries about upcoming venue rentals leave DeStefano and the Center’s Board of Directors hopeful that the facility will continue serving as an arts, cultural, community, and social venue for many more years to come.

For more information, please call 512-392-2900, stop by the Center at 222 W. San Antonio St., or visit price-center.org or Facebook @ Price Center & Garden.