Historical Park's latest addition

Aged house to be welcome site

A century-old home that served as servant’s quarters will become a welcome center for the Historical Park of Denton County.

“We are very lucky … that history does not suffer in Denton,” said Georgia Caraway, executive director of Denton County Museums. “Even in hard times, it does not suffer.”

The newest restoration project for the Historical Park Foundation of Denton County was once living quarters for the servant of the Spencer House in Lewisville. Built in 1904, the Spencer House is a 14-room, three-story home.

When the Historical Park Foun­da­tion first acquired the one-room cottage, it was termite-infested and falling apart.

“It was pretty awful, as usual,” Caraway said. “That’s what we do. We take these little places and make them something beautiful.”

Bill Marquis, a restoration specialist who also worked on the park’s Quakertown house, is working on the project.

“The house is going to be just like it was when it was new,” Marquis said.

The servant’s quarters were built with materials left over from the construction of the main house, Marquis said.

To restore the small house, he is using the same materials that were used to build the house originally. “They still make everything that was in the house,” he said.

The servant’s quarters followed the Spencer house through an array of owners’ hands before the Historical Park Foundation received it.

Pilot Point ISD weighs tax election

School board trying to address general fund, salaries in new budget

Pilot Point school officials have been wrestling with financial woes for a few years, and now they are working on a plan they feel will meet multiple needs.

School board members and district officials are considering a tax rate increase that would require voter approval.

Between the increase and cutting costs wherever possible, the board wants to approve a balanced budget and rebuild its general fund.

The superintendent is scheduled to give board members an update on the district’s progress with 2008-09 proposed budget at tonight’s meeting.

Board members met with district officials for a budget workshop Thurs­day.

The district’s business manager, Jimmy Harrod, proposed a deficit of $188,660 in a draft budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year, even after the district transportation committee established $100,000 in cuts.

With an about 8 percent decrease in state funding and an almost 12 percent increase in local funding, Harrod projected the district’s revenue for the next fiscal year to be $10,786,400, while proposing operating expenses of $10,975,060.

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