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Adding to the Santa Fe Depot

At a groundbreaking last Friday, the City of Amarillo began working on an addition to the historic Santa Fe Depot, the train station that welcomed most of Amarillo’s earliest residents to the area. The railroad itself is one of the primary reasons Amarillo exists.

To add to that legacy, the City is building a $2.7 million open-air pavilion, which will serve a number of uses, from hosting WRCA World Championship Rodeo contestants and livestock to providing covered space for community markets and other outdoor events.

The pavilion is being funded through excess hotel occupancy taxes from this year and the past year—taxes largely paid by travelers to this area rather than local residents. The structure is being built in an open space adjacent to the Santa Fe Depot and is expected to be completed this fall.

Local Focus

First Responders’ Memorial: Friends of AJ Swope, an Amarillo nonprofit, is planning a memorial in downtown Amarillo to honor the memory of first responders in the Texas Panhandle area who have died in the line of duty. Funds for the $1.2 million project will be raised through private fundraising, and it will be built on a city-owned pocket park at 11th and Polk near the Bivins Mansion. (The city is leasing the park to the organization for $1 a year.)

$200 million investment at Tyson: Tyson Foods will invest $200 million in its beef plant in Amarillo. Construction begins this fall on a 143,000-square-foot expansion to the existing facility. The company says the new project will improve the onsite work experience and make operations more efficient.

Athletics at Amarillo College: The Amarillo College return to intercollegiate athletics kicks off with a pep rally tomorrow, August 24, to introduce the Badger volleyball, baseball and cross country teams. It’s open to the public and begins at 11:30 a.m. on the Oeschger Family Mall at the Washington Street Campus.

Chip Chandler’s “Can’t Miss”

Music in the Gardens: Amarillo rock band RAK-45 headlines this season’s final installment of Amarillo Botanical Gardens’ annual summer concert series. (7 p.m. Thursday; 1400 Streit Drive; admission $5 for members, $10 nonmembers; 806-352-6513)

Music at Wellington Square Courtyard: Amarillo-based Robert Hinds Quartet offers a night of jazz at this week’s installment of the outdoor concert series. (7 p.m. Thursday; 1601 Kentucky St.; cover $15)

“Significant Other”: Amarillo Little Theatre kicks off its season with this romantic comedy about a man looking everywhere for his Mr. Right. (7:30 p.m. Thursday and Aug. 25, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday; ALT Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle; ticket prices vary; 806-355-9991)

Hillbilly Casino: Hope for a jackpot with this Nashville-based country-rock band arrives at Hoots Pub. On Saturday, check out The Jon Young Band and The James Cook Band. (9 p.m. Thursday; 2424 Hobbs Road; cover)

Rilla Town Madness: A slew of Amarillo-based hip-hop acts—including Arlo, Ty-stixxx, Uglie, Ejohn & Rezi Resurrect, Lady Dynasty, K.a.n.e., Almighty Sigh, Ivey and Lyric Lee—unite for a show at Leftwoods. (7:25 p.m. Friday; 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave.; cover $5 advance, $7 at door; 806-367-9840)

United Way Kickoff Party: The season of giving launches with a concert and party featuring headliner Josh Turner and openers Cameron James Smith & The Band Monarch at Starlight Ranch Event Center. On Saturday, the party palace hosts hot country band Midland with opener Katilin Butts. (8 p.m. Friday; 1415 Sunrise Drive; tickets $10 to $35; 806-556-4456)

Texas Panhandle's Craft Beerfest: Enjoy some afternoon drinking at the return of this Townsquare Media event, featuring ales, IPAs and more from an array of regional brewmasters, plus music from Hayden Lewis. (2 to 5 p.m. Saturday; Amarillo Netplex, 3723 S.W. 58th Ave.; tickets $35 advance, $45 at door, $100 VIP; 806-373-7800)

Missa Solemnis: This work for orchestra and choir by Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most massive classical works ever written. (See more about it at the bottom of this newsletter!) (7:30 p.m. Saturday; Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St.; tickets $20 to $65; 806-378-3096 or 806-376-8782)

Bummer Summer Party: Say farewell to summer at Golden Light Cantina with tunes from Travis Roberts & The Willing Few, Native Crowds, Dude-Man and Rain Division. On Thursday, check out Los Angeles-based psych-rock band Hoveriii. (8:30 p.m. Saturday; 2908 S.W. Sixth Ave.; cover; 806-374-9237)

Streaming/In Theaters:

“Three Thousand Years of Longing”: Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton star in this fantastical tale from director George Miller (“Mad Max: Fury Road”). Also opening: horror film “The Invitation.” (Opens Thursday; Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive; Cinergy, 9201 Cinergy Square; and Regal UA Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd.)

“Bleach The Movie: Hell Verse”: Check out a 20th-anniversary screening of this anime favorite. (7 p.m. Thursday; Regal UA Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd.)

That’s not all. For a list of more entertainment options this week in and around Amarillo, read Chip’s full list on our website.

Eye on Amarillo

Playa Design Studio is the architecture firm behind some of the city’s newest and most attention-getting buildings, like the downtown home of Six Car and Crush restaurants on Polk Street. During the past weekend’s much-appreciated rainfall, they posted this Instagram photo of early pioneers and the rustic rain catchment gutter system they’d engineered.

These are words every local can take to heart: “Our environment can’t be fully tamed. We strive to work with it rather than against it.”

“Once in a Lifetime”: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis

On Saturday, August 27, several of the city’s arts organizations and musicians will come together to perform the Beethoven masterpiece Missa Solemnis.

Beethoven considered this demanding choral and orchestral work the best he’d ever written, and it uses 173 musicians—including a choir of 105 voices. The complexity of the piece means it is typically only performed in large cities, making this a once-in-a-lifetime event for Amarillo. Preparations for the event began in 2018 and the process is being documented in a PBS documentary about what the Panhandle community is capable of artistically. Missa Solemnis has never been performed in this area.

Along with the Amarillo Symphony, participating organizations in the local “Missa Solemnis Alliance” include Chamber Music Amarillo, Amarillo Master Chorale, Panhandle PBS, First Baptist Church of Amarillo, West Texas A&M University, Amarillo College, Wayland Baptist University, and other community singers.

The performance takes place this Saturday, August 27, at 7:30PM in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets start at $25.