Hilmar Cheese Company partners with Dalhart community to build amphitheatre
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Hilmar Cheese Company presented the city of Dalhart a $250,000 check to build an amphitheatre at the Rita Blanca recreation center today.
Being a major company in the city working with dairy farmers in the Panhandle, Hilmar Cheese Company President and CEO, David Ahlem wanted to give back to the community.
“Our desire is to improve lives and so to make this a great place and a great place to live and Hilmar a great place to work, we believe investments like this allow us to do that,” said Ahlem.
The Amphitheatre is apart of a larger project in making the Rita Blanca recreation center a more centralized site for the community to enjoy events.
Dallam and Hartley counties and the City of Dalhart have been working on this project for years, and with the city’s old movie theater closing six years ago, the amphitheatre will have more purposes than one.
“If our high school wants to do their one act plays to outdoor melodramas, concerts in the park, we can set it up for screenings so we can do outdoor movies in the park in the summer,” said Dallam County judge Wes Ritchey.
Other projects that will happening at the recreation center include adding a playground and splashpad for children to enjoy.
$350,000 is going into these projects being funded by grants from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and local organizations.
Local officials estimate that the amphitheater can hold 400 people once constructed.
They hope to have construction complete on all projects by the summer for the public to enjoy.
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