For the past 66 years, the has provided Hill Country residents and visitors alike a place to see shows just feet away from the Guadalupe River. The foundation is home to a theater, a decades-old art fair and a Stonehenge replica.

And for the past 25 years, it's been a home for Sarah Tacey, who now serves as its executive director. 

On Wednesday afternoon, instead of preparing for the play that was supposed to open on July 11, Tacey and her team of colleagues and interns were hard at work clearing out debris from the buildings that filled with water on July 4 in the deadly Central Texas floods. 

For Tacey and many others, this work is important. 

"It means something to so many people," she said. "We have generations of people working out here. You know, people who were out here in their cribs are now directing plays and starring in plays."

Among the areas flooded on Friday are the lobby, the black box theater and a brand new ceramics studio that was finished less than a year ago. The force of the water also blew out the walls of the outdoor theater's stage. But the stage itself is still standing.

"The outdoor theatre did exactly what it was designed to do," Tacey said. "Those walls were designed to blow out so the whole building didn't go down the river."

Early estimates for the cost to repair what's been damaged are north of $1 million, which Tacey said is an especially big number for a nonprofit. 

Tacey said that everyone at the Hill Country Arts Foundation lost loved ones or knows someone who did. She said that with so much tragedy, cleaning the foundation and working toward restoring it is giving them some sense of control.

"The community needs some joy and music and we'll do it in some fashion and invite the community to come here," Tacey said. 

• Texas
• Flooding