Odessa committee proposes rebuilt jackrabbit and downtown visitor center for 2027 centennial

A volunteer committee and city officials presented plans to build a new stone jackrabbit sculpture and a small visitor center downtown, aiming to unveil the project for Odessa’s centennial in April 2027.

The proposal, introduced by Mayor Cal Hendrick and committee member Renee Earls, would recreate the city’s iconic jackrabbit as a 50‑foot sculpture on a roughly 10‑foot pedestal and add a roughly 2,000‑square‑foot visitor center. The committee described the effort as a public‑private partnership and asked the City Council to consider using private donations, grants and hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funds to help pay for the visitor center portion.

The committee emphasized tourism and economic impacts as central goals. “Our next step is making Odessa home to the world’s largest jackrabbit once again,” Renee Earls told the council. Economist Ray Perryman of the Perryman Group presented an economic summary the committee commissioned, saying the combined rabbit and visitor center could generate new spending and jobs over time. “When we do numbers, we take them very seriously,” Perryman said, and he estimated the combined project could support millions in annual spending and several hundred jobs when fully established, with the visitor center producing most of the projected effect.

Committee members outlined two preferred downtown sites: a city‑owned parcel at Fifth and Grant and a green space near Fourth and Texas adjacent to Odessa College Park. The committee provided initial cost estimates for one site that included a 2,000‑square‑foot visitor center and a stone rabbit; the presentation cited a roughly $5.44 million total for a package including the statue, visitor center, security, lighting and site work, and said the committee expected to pursue private donations, foundations and grant funding through the Odessa Community Foundation to cover most costs.

Committee members described the proposed statue as built from locally quarried limestone cut to slab dimensions, transported to the site and stacked onto an engineered pedestal. Larry Johnson, a committee member, described the planned construction method and said the stone sections would be mortared and secured with steel reinforcement. The committee said they planned 24/7 lighting and security, donor recognition, tiered seating for photos and a donor paver program to encourage private giving.

Council members and staff raised timing and process questions. The committee acknowledged a 16–22 month build schedule for the sculpture and related site work that the quarrying and masonry schedule would drive, which the group said makes the centennial date ambitious but the committee said it still targets April 2027 if fundraising and approvals move quickly. The committee requested direction on whether council would support use of HOT funds for the visitor center portion and suggested the Odessa Community Foundation as a vehicle to hold private donations.

Rather than taking immediate final action, councilmembers asked the city attorney and staff to prepare a formal resolution and to clarify which funds could be used and what approvals would be required. The council did not adopt a spending authorization at the meeting; members asked the committee and staff to return with a resolution and with fleshed‑out funding sources and authority for any city contributions.

If the council approves funding later, the committee said it intends to pursue a public‑private model with philanthropic fundraising administered through the Odessa Community Foundation and to use donor recognition and a paver program to engage local contributors.

Sources at the council meeting said the project will return for more detailed review before any city funds are committed; the committee and several councilmembers indicated they plan to bring a resolution and funding plan to a future meeting for formal approval.