A new chapter: Kevin Brady Library and Community Center opens with great celebration

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Hundreds of people thronged to the Grogan’s Mill Village Center – site of a nearly two-year major renovation and reconstruction – to celebrate the opening of the Kevin Brady Library and Community Center. The library is the new location for the former South Regional Library and Community Center on Lake Robbins Road; the former site will soon undergo redevelopment.

The new facility cost $16.5 million. The project was part of a larger revitalization of the Grogan's Mill Village Center, originally the first such center in the Township. The project was privately funded by the Howard Hughes Corporation through a land-swap deal with Montgomery County. In the deal, Howard Hughes developed and built the new 48,000-square-foot facility and then transferred ownership to the county. In exchange, the company acquired the land of the previous library and community center.

Woodlands Online was on hand to capture the new memories of The Woodlands’ latest architectural achievement, ushering in an era that Aaron Cox, president and CEO of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce, called, “our first step into the 51st year.”

Beyond his prepared remarks to the crowd, Cox also talked one-on-one with Woodlands Online. “This is an amazing day for the community. I’m super excited; not only did we get to open a newly renovated center with a new library that’s truly going to be a benefit to the community, but we also get to do it to honor one of my personal heroes and one those heroes for a lot of the community, a great servant, Congressman Brady, who is top-notch in everything. I’m over the moon excited.”

Dr. Ann Snyder, a community icon and member of The Township Board, told Woodlands Online, “It’s exciting, it’s an incredible gift to our community and the entirety of Montgomery County.”

Township Board president Brad Bailey agreed. “This is incredible. I think we’ve got the nation’s nicest library and community center; it’s nearly enough to rival a Ritz-Carlton, it’s so beautiful.”

Ritch Wheeler, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner, told Woodlands Online, “I’m super excited for the community. I think this is something that South County, The Woodlands, Montgomery County, but especially Grogan’s Mill Village, has deserved for a long time. It’s just great to see the revitalization of this area. This is going to be the epicenter once again of The Woodlands, and that’s exciting.”

The honored man himself, Kevin Brady, also spoke directly to Woodlands Online. “This is a wonderful day for the community. All our families and our businesses deserve a state-of-the-art library and community center in such an active community, and this is just incredible.”
When asked by Woodlands Online what it felt to have an entire facility named after him, Brady replied, “It’s pretty hard to believe, but in retrospect I was a library kid growing up, combined with me being active in sports, it was all about bikes, books, and balls. That was growing up for me. So to have this library and community center named after me is truly an honor.”

Beyond the complete reconstruction of the former South Regional Library – moving it from two stores to one – the facility also contains a tiered lecture hall, conference and meeting rooms, a classroom, a networking area, and a grand ballroom named after Brady’s wife, Cathy.

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