"Completion was expected by the start of the 2026 COM event, however recent delays have altered the projected timeline." That line from the city's Oct. 6 staff report on the Christmas on Mercer street closures refers to The Stephenson, the restored schoolhouse at 101 Old Fitzhugh Road. It also explains why this year's festival map was drawn twice.
Christmas on Mercer is Saturday, Dec. 5, starting at 10 a.m., with vendor booths open until 5 p.m. The Dripping Springs Lions Club and the city co-host it. The festival has run on the same footprint for years. The Lions Club made no changes to its layout for 2026. What has changed is the edge of that footprint, where the city's largest downtown project and the new walkway connecting it to Mercer are both still being built.
The building at the end of Old Fitzhugh
The Stephenson started as a high school, built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration. Over the years it also served as a community meeting center, a school again and county offices. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, and the city bought it from Dripping Springs ISD around 2009, according to the Hays Free Press.
The city is restoring the old building and adding onto it. In its early planning coverage, Community Impact listed the planned uses: performances and events, an accessible stage and dressing room, a catering kitchen, a gallery, restrooms, and offices for the Parks and Community Services Department.
The construction schedule shows why December became a tight fit. In October 2025, the City Council awarded the building and parking-lot contract to QA Construction Services, Inc. The net contract was $4,447,200 plus contingency. Notice to proceed was expected Oct. 20, 2025, with a contract term of 365 calendar days. On that schedule, the work would have wrapped up in October 2026, about six weeks before the festival.
By Sept. 1, 2026, a city staff report described the project as "nearing completion." City staff were planning the change from construction site to working city facility, and the report showed how much of the cushion had been used:
| Contingency line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Contingency at contract approval, Oct. 7, 2025 | $447,200.00 |
| Audio-visual change order, February 2026 | $189,681.66 |
| Other approved change orders | $144,754.04 |
| Change orders under review | $54,343.47 |
| Requested security and networking costs | $52,000.00 |
| Remaining balance if all were applied | $6,420.83 |
The audio-visual equipment alone used about 42 percent of the contingency. That fits a building whose main job will be hosting performances and events. Five weeks after that report, the Christmas on Mercer staff report cited delays.
Two maps for one Saturday
The closure plan the city presented to the City Council on Oct. 6 starts at 5 a.m. on Dec. 5 and closes these segments to through traffic:
- Mercer Street, from Bluff Street up to and including Wells Fargo Bank
- San Marcos Street, from Mercer to Wallace Street
- College Street, from the rear parking lot entrance of Mazama Coffee up to Mercer
- Old Fitzhugh Road, closed to through traffic at Ranch Road 12 and fully closed to event traffic from 101 Old Fitzhugh, the Stephenson lot, to Mercer
The last item is the one that could change. In 2025 the city added safety barricades around the Stephenson construction area at 101 Old Fitzhugh. For 2026, staff prepared two traffic-control maps. One repeats the 2024 plan with no extra barricades. The other carries over the 2025 layout with barricades around The Stephenson. The staff report says the final layout depends on the state of construction on event day.
So the end of the festival closest to Old Fitzhugh is the one most likely to look different. For anyone who parks on that side of downtown, the decision about which map applies won't be made until close to Dec. 5.
The path to Mercer is being built in pieces
The Stephenson is meant to connect to Mercer Street by a new pedestrian path the city calls the Mercer Street Paseo. The city's March 5, 2026 historic-preservation review describes it as a pathway "connecting the Stephenson Building and Mercer Street," with benches, landscaping and other pedestrian amenities. The project is in the Mercer Street Historic District.
That spring, the plan was to finish the Paseo at the same time as the Stephenson and the parking lot, in October 2026. The funding was a TIRZ allocation of $180,250 for fiscal year 2026. In July, city staff tried to add the whole Paseo to the Stephenson contract as a change order. The price quotes came in at more than double the city's $200,000 budget. Staff then divided the work into three phases to stay within budget.
| Phase | Budget | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $49,995 | Dumpster enclosure, paving for trash trucks, curb and sidewalk tie-in at the Stephenson site; added to the Stephenson contract in July 2026 |
| 2 | $85,400 base bid | Underground electrical conduit, light-pole foundations, water and wastewater service, storm drains, tree wells, storm curbs, and the sidewalk |
| 3 | $64,605 | Plantings, crushed granite, benches, paver step stones, light poles and electric wire pulls |
S&D Constructors, Inc. submitted the low bid for Phase 2. City Engineer Chad Gilpin's Oct. 6 report recommended a $100,000 award: the $85,400 base bid plus a $14,600 allowance that could pay for some Phase 3 finishes as part of Phase 2. That schedule set notice to proceed for Oct. 19 and construction completion for "early December." Phase 3 comes later, using a combination of the city's own crews and a landscape contractor.
Line that schedule up with the calendar and Phase 2's target finish lands in the same week as Christmas on Mercer. Even if Phase 2 finishes on time, the Paseo will be pipes, conduit, tree wells and sidewalk. The benches, plantings and light poles in the March drawings belong to the later phase.
What the finished pair gives Mercer Street
The two projects only make full sense together. The Stephenson brings an indoor stage, a dressing room, a catering kitchen and a gallery, plus the parks staff who run the city's events. The Paseo gives people a direct walking route from Mercer to that building, with benches and landscaping once Phase 3 is done. Phase 1 handled the less visible work, such as the dumpster enclosure and truck turning room that a working event venue needs.
For now, Christmas on Mercer is mostly an outdoor street festival. Last year's 21st edition had pony rides, train rides, a giant snow globe, and Santa arriving on a fire truck before sitting for photos, according to Community Impact's 2025 preview. The 2026 vendor application lists arts and crafts, business booths and photo opportunities. Once both projects are finished, the festival's barricaded edge at Old Fitzhugh would become the entrance to a city building with its own stage. This year's event happens while that change is still under construction.
Meanwhile, the season's other anchor is out at Ranch Park
Until The Stephenson opens, the city's largest seasonal attraction is a few miles from Mercer at Dripping Springs Ranch Park, 1042 Event Center Dr. The city has worked with Ice Rink Events on the Western Wonderland ice rink there since 2023. The agreement proposed for this season calls for a rink of about 60 by 120 feet, installed Nov. 23–27, open to the public from Nov. 27, 2026, through Jan. 5, 2027, and removed Jan. 6–12. The equipment and services cost $179,955.
Ranch Park also hosts most of November's events before the rink opens:
- Deck the PAWS, Saturday, Nov. 7, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., is a fundraiser at Dripping Springs Distilling, listed in Community Impact's November roundup.
- Family Campout, Nov. 13–14, runs from 4 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday at Dripping Springs Ranch Park.
- Dripping Springs Farmers Market, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 3–6 p.m., is at Vendor Hall on the Ranch Park grounds, according to the city calendar.
The rink is expected to open the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas on Mercer follows eight days later. For one more holiday season, the city's programs are split between the arena grounds on the edge of town and a downtown street festival that ends at a construction fence.
On Dec. 5, the closures begin at 5 a.m. and booths open at 10. The Old Fitzhugh side is where to look for the barricades and, behind them, the schoolhouse that is due to become Mercer Street's next public building.
At The Drewett Group, we follow projects like The Stephenson and the Paseo because they shape what a short walk to Mercer Street will be like for years. If you're weighing a property within reach of downtown Dripping Springs, we're glad to talk through what is being built around it. Request Access to Private Listings.
