
The Former Texas Rangers Foundation spent more than $8 million to build a Texas Ranger Ring of Honor and other infrastructure. What will happen to it?
SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Rangers Heritage Center in Fredericksburg contains a Ranger Ring of Honor, a tower, a pavilion, statues, and other improvements created to honor the legacy of the rangers. The Former Texas Rangers Foundation built those improvements and has been managing the site since 2011.
But now they have to leave, because they didn’t build a museum.
The Former Texas Rangers Foundation (FTRF) signed a lease for the property with the city of Fredericksburg in February of 2011. The cost of the lease was almost nothing, only $1.00 a year, but the lease did require the FTRF to build a Texas Ranger Ring of Honor and a Heritage Center Museum by 2018. The FTRF was able to build some of those improvements but wasn’t able to start the Museum by 2018. The City then gave them an extension until 2025 but the nonprofit says COVID and rising construction costs kept them from getting the project off the ground.
Finally, in September of last year, the City of Fredericksburg sent them a Notice of Default and let them know the lease would soon be terminated.
KENS 5 started working on a story in November of last year and City of Fredericksburg spokesman Sean Doerre then told us the city had “what I considered to be a productive meeting” with the Former Texas Rangers Association which is over the FTRF.
The Former Texas Rangers Association and FTRF were working with a new builder and was meeting with the city for a lease extension and new plan to get the museum built.
Unfortunately, the talks didn’t pan out. The city requested a formal reply from the FTRF concerning the notice of default during that time. The city then asked for information to use for an audit of the Former Texas Rangers Foundation. When the city didn’t get either by February 4th, 2025, they decided to end the agreement.
“This action by the Council is simply holding the Former Texas Rangers Foundation accountable for their obligations under a contract they sought with the City in 2011,” Mayor Jeryl Hoover said. “The land they’ve occupied belongs to the citizens of Fredericksburg. They failed to produce what they agreed to, and after 14 years, it’s time to part ways.”
That still left the question of what would happen to the $8 million of improvements on the site, which included the Texas Ranger Ring of Honor that held the names of 500 Texas Rangers killed in the line of duty.
KENS 5 asked the City of Fredericksburg what would happen to those structures multiple times. Still, even on Friday, there was no definitive answer.
The only answer Mayor Jeryl Hover would provide, which was emailed by the city public information officer, was as follows: “I invite the FTRF to come to the City with a plan and give us the opportunity to cooperate with them in resolving that issue.”
FTRF spokesman Joe Davis said this response didn’t make sense because the Mayor had previously refused to meet. Davis had tried to set a meeting with Mayor Hover back in December. Hover then sent a letter saying he was not interested.
In that letter, Hover stated, “…after the December 5th deadline to respond to the default had passed, it was my intention to oppose any further negotiations with the FTRF and to only consider further discussions with the FTRA” (which is over the foundation).
The letter also stated, “I do not see any benefit to a meeting between us.” Regardless, Davis said he was still willing to meet to discus the fate of the property.
“I don’t know where the Mayor is coming from. I would like to sit down with him,” Davis said. “You cannot work out issues without communication.”