The Gary Moses Community Center on East North Street stays open through February 2027 and closes in March. When it reopens in January 2028, the building will be different. The City of Victoria built both dates around the Victoria Livestock Show, which runs in February 2027 in the old building and comes back in 2028 to the new one.
That leaves the rest of the calendar with about 10 months and no dome. Gun shows, parish festivals, banquets and reservations all work around that window. This winter is the last full season of the building most of Victoria knows, and the booking desk stays open the whole time.
Two dates hold the whole schedule
On September 2, city leaders broke ground on the expansion and renovation. Taking part were Mayor Duane Crocker, City Manager Jesús A. Garza, Councilmembers Rafael "Ricky" DeLaGarza, Andrew Young, Jan Scott, Mark Loffgren and April L. Butler, and Kristin Moses, niece of the man the building is named for. The building team is Victoria-based contractor Lauger Companies, architecture firm Populous and owner's representative AGCM.
The city's September 8 release sets the order. The center stays open through February 2027, "including during the 2027 Victoria Livestock Show," and every facility the show uses stays open and accessible. The closure starts in March, after the second annual Growing Victoria Summit. The August 11 release puts the reopening in January 2028, "in time for the Victoria Livestock Show."
The show takes one February before the closure and the next February after it. Everything else in the building gets fitted into the months between.
The back of the property changes first
Construction is already moving, and most of it is out of sight from the front entrance. Phase one starts the new event arena, the new stall barn and other work that can go on without closing the facility. The August release puts that work at the rear of the property.
That's where parking gets tighter. The city says parking behind the community center may be limited while construction is underway. It also says officials are talking with livestock show officials and working to keep parking problems to a minimum. If you usually park in the back lot for a February show day or a winter event, plan for the front this season.
What's still booked before March
Here's the calendar as it stands, starting from the week this post goes up:
- Victoria Gun Show, October 24 and 25, 2026. The show listing puts it at 2905 E. North St.
- Crossroads Pickle Festival, Saturday, December 5, 2026, noon to 7 p.m. The event listing includes a market, competitions, a car show, a pageant, a talent search and a kids zone.
- St. Mary's Parish Festival, Sunday, February 7, 2027. St. Mary's Catholic Church has confirmed the Gary Moses Community Center as the site. Festival co-chairs are Lisa and Zach Kainer and Kevin and Joan Pfister.
- 2027 Victoria Livestock Show, February 2027. The city has confirmed that the show uses the building this winter. The show's own site has the daily schedule.
- Second annual Growing Victoria Summit, early 2027. This is the last scheduled event before the closure. Watch the city's news releases for the date.
The St. Mary's festival will be among the last big community gatherings in the building as it stands. Anyone planning a wedding reception, reunion or fundraiser for early 2027 is competing with those dates for the remaining weekends.
Ten months without the dome
The work that closes the building is the work regular visitors will notice most. In March 2027, crews start renovating the existing structure, including the dome, and converting the existing arena into an exhibition hall.
The city's planning materials describe the finished project. The figures below come from the city's FAQ written before the venue tax election, so treat them as the planned design rather than final specs.
| Part of the site | Today | Planned |
|---|---|---|
| Main arena | Existing arena under the dome | Converted to an exhibition hall with banquet seating for more than 900 |
| New arena | None | Covered arena with 3,000 fixed seats, expandable to 4,500 for concert-style events |
| Livestock space | Existing stalls | New stall barn |
| Interior | Current layout | Rearranged so several large events can run at the same time, with updated lighting, sound, kitchen, restrooms, air conditioning and accessibility |
| Grounds | Current fairgrounds and lots | Better lighting, RV hookups, improved drainage and more parking |
The city's FAQ traces the plan to the 2024 Community Center and Fairgrounds Master Plan, which aims to bring larger events like concerts and rodeos to Victoria and let the building host several large private and community events at once.
The city's closure releases lay out the schedule and the construction work. They don't say where recurring events will go between March 2027 and January 2028. If you run a standing event there, bring that question to the booking desk now.
The desk takes walk-ins from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, until the March closure. Staff accept reservation requests, take payments on existing reservations and answer questions about future bookings. To set up an appointment outside those hours, email [email protected] or call 361-485-3215.
How the work is paid for
The estimate has grown since the project went to voters. The city's FAQ from the 2025 election described a project of up to $35 million. It would be paid for with certificate of obligation bonds, existing Victoria Sales Tax Development Corporation funds, existing hotel occupancy tax dollars and a new venue tax, which was expected to cover about $11 million.
The city's August 18, 2026 budget release calls it a multi-year, $39 million project. About $21.6 million of that is in the fiscal year 2027 budget, which took effect October 1 and covers the new arena and stall upgrades. In other words, more than half of the total is scheduled for this year, the same stretch in which the building closes.
On the venue tax, Victoria voters approved Proposition A on May 3, 2025, with 65.03 percent of the vote, according to the city's report of unofficial county results. It created a 5 percent tax on motor vehicle rentals and an added 2 percent hotel occupancy tax. The city said the tax applies to hotel stays and car rentals inside city limits and does not change residents' property tax rates.
The name on the sign
Earlier this year, the Victoria City Council approved renaming the Community Center for Gary Moses, known around town as Brother Gary. The Victoria Advocate reported that he taught at Patti Welder Middle School for more than 35 years and emceed countless local events. He also hosted a weekly radio show and the "Where's Brother Gary" Facebook livestreams with the Advocate, which featured local businesses, events and residents. The paper called him Victoria's "unofficial lifetime mayor." He received a Congressional Patriot Award from U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud in December 2025. Victoria County commissioners named July 29, his birthday, Brother Gary Moses Day.
He died in July at 76, a few weeks before the groundbreaking that put his name on the project. In April, community leaders began working on a statue at the center and on scholarship funds for students at Victoria College and Texas A&M University-Victoria. The Advocate's April report showed a mockup of the statue, which is planned for the renamed building.
When the doors open again in January 2028, the livestock show moves back in under his name, in a building with a second arena, a new barn and an exhibition hall where the old arena floor used to be.
The Zaplac Group follows projects like the Gary Moses Community Center renovation because they change how East North Street and the fairgrounds area get used from season to season. If you have questions about what the construction schedule means for property near the center, Contact The Team.
