HARLINGEN — Good fences make good neighbors.
They also serve to establish one’s personal identity, or that of a school.
That’s why a new fence is being erected around some vacant property once occupied by an old service station and school structures at the corner of Harrison Avenue and 77 Sunshine Strip.
The service station and other structures which housed school board meetings, special education departments and other offices were demolished earlier this year and replaced with fresh grass.
Now the Harlingen school district, which bought the property, is surrounding that and other property near Vernon Middle School with a fence paid for by TRE funds.
“The fencing is to give Vernon Middle School its own identity separate from Boggus Stadium, which has brick columns with its bronze decorative fence,” said Oscar Tapia, assistant superintendent for district operations.
“Now Vernon is getting its own fence to distinguish itself,” he said. “It’ll be maintained by Vernon campus custodians.”
Work on the project began about two weeks ago and is scheduled to conclude next week.
Speculation for the use of the property has included allowing golf students to practice there or eventually turning it into parking space.
“The fencing there is a continuation of our whole master plan for the whole Boggus Stadium complex,” Tapia said. “We have Vernon Middle School on the south and the old Memorial Middle School on the north.”
COST OF PROJECT: $125,774
CONTRACTOR: Hurricane Fence Company
FUNDING SOURCE: TRE
WHAT IS TRE?: TRE funds are those extra dollars collected through a property tax increase approved by voters two years