A local nonprofit wants to turn a vacant city-owned house in Heritage Park into a public art center with studios, gallery space and a small performance venue.

The Art Guild of League City presented the plan at a City Council workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 8, proposing to fill the historic Walter and Helen Hall House at 1220 Coryell St. with four to five artist studios, classroom and gallery space, and a 35-seat performance area, Community Impact reported. The building has sat empty since the Butler Longhorn Museum vacated in 2022.

Guild member Jill Reason told the workshop the group sees a rare chance to bring the building back to life.

"League City has a historic home that deserves to be preserved, cared for and filled with life again," Reason said.

Council members pushed back.

Several raised concerns about financial viability, pointing to cost overruns that contributed to the Butler Longhorn Museum's departure. Mayor Nick Long questioned whether the city could afford the project, saying it amounts to a want rather than a necessity given the city's limited budget. Salary costs put a significant dent in the previous museum's bottom line, Long said.

Guild President Jill Struby responded that the proposed art center would be entirely volunteer-led, eliminating the overhead of paid city staff.

Council directed staff and the guild to return with a formal budget that includes a five-year initial lease term. The venue would need to cover its own utilities and basic operating expenses to move forward.

The Hall House is a city-owned historic property that the League City Historical Society lists as originally a five-room cottage built by J.A. Berwith. The city purchased the estate after the death of Walter Hall. Helen Hall, born in League City in 1907, became the city's first female postmaster and helped establish its first library, which bears her name.

Heritage Park already hosts a separate Artists in Residency Program at the nearby Ghirardi House, launched in 2025 as part of the city's Public Art Initiative. An open house for that program is scheduled for Sept. 18.

The next regular City Council meeting is Sept. 22.