Belton unveils new welcome monument at South Highway 317 exit

BELTON, Texas (KXXV) — Belton has a new landmark to welcome visitors, thanks to the efforts of the Class of 2024 Leadership Belton program.

Situated off the South Highway 317 exit from Temple, the new 'Welcome to Belton' monument — the idea was proposed last December by the Leadership Belton group, a program of the Belton Chamber of Commerce.

For local realtor Meredith Duke, seeing the project come to fruition was an emotional moment.

"When it first got put up I wasn't here, so driving up to it, I pulled in and I called Apple like 'I'm crying', because, just to see the fulfillment of all that hard work, it was like, it got done," Duke said.

The project, which cost over $43,000, required only $15,000 from City of Belton entities — the remaining costs were covered by community donations and primary sponsors KPA Engineers and Emerson Construction Company.

President of the Belton Chamber of Commerce, Randy Pittenger emphasized the historical significance of the project.

"This is a project our community has wanted for many, many years — it's important for us to say 'Established 1850'," he said.

"Belton's been around since 1850, it's a long time — many, many generations have been part of the legacy of building over community, and this group is continuing to build our community."

Lifelong Belton native and Chamber of Commerce Director Alexis Sarinana shared her pride in being part of the team that made the monument a reality.

"Just having the sign and being like 'Wow, I was a part of that, like I did that, or 'We did that as a team' — I'm just very proud, and very fulfilled," Sarinana said.