Posted on Sep 29, 2014 in
FEATURES
The interior of the second floor of the three-bay warehouse that will be refurbished for the Heritage Museum.
THE MAKING OF FORT BEND
By Jonathan Fausset –
Dennis Parmer has some big plans to preserve the rich history of Sugar Land. As a member of Sugar Land City Council from 2003 to 2009, Parmer found a serious passion for the city.
He and his wife, Becky, moved to Sugar Land in 1981, and Parmer went to work for Shell Oil as a computer systems analyst. He found a home that was close to Fort Bend schools, which was a priority for the Parmer’s to raise a family. He started a computer staffing company in 1986 and phased into medical staffing in 2002. A year later, Imperial Sugar closed its paramount factory.
In 2008, Parmer became the founding president of the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation, established to preserve the history of Sugar Land. The museum is presently located on the factory grounds of Imperial Sugar in the little red brick building next to the Char House, but plans are being made to expand the museum into a permanent building on the grounds of the sugar factory.
Bettye Anhaiser, Dennis Parmer, Martin Nicholas, Shay Shafie, Bruce Kelly, Sharon Ehrenkranz, Bob Brown, Bill Schwer and Roy Cordes, Jr. discussed plans at a recent Sugar Land Heritage Foundation board meeting.
The 8,000 square-foot per floor Char House was the original idea for the Heritage Museum, but through independent study, the Heritage Foundation had a consultant assess the various buildings, and the consultant determined that the Char House was not the best place for a museum. The developers had come to the same conclusion with the idea that either an office building or a boutique hotel would be built in the Char House. With this in mind, the developers and the Heritage Foundation began looking for a mutually agreeable place to house the museum.
The developers agreed that the Heritage Museum would be located on the second floor of the three-bay warehouse, just behind the Char House and on the grounds of the Imperial Sugar Factory. As with any restoration, there is a great deal of work to be done on that site. In addition to the general cleanup, interior design, climate control and plumbing, specialized installations designed to preserve artifacts will be installed. There will also be what Parmer refers to as “experiential displays” that give visitors to the museum a sense of being a little more involved with what they are seeing.
Plans include building an open courtyard on the roof of the three-bay warehouse to host outdoor events with a view. The actual museum and display area on the second floor renovations and the renovations of the rooftop courtyard will be simultaneous. There are plans to have a projector against the silos, a view from one end of the building of the Friday night fireworks at Constellation Field and a view of the courtyard, which is part of the future plans of the site, that will be directly behind the white silos beside the Char House.
The conceptual drawings are complete, and volunteers are maintaining and cleaning the grounds trying to preserve as much of the structure and any possible remaining artifacts that may still be in the warehouse. Parmer’s plans are big but well worth the wait. There’s a lot to be done and a lot worth preserving.
