b'C o m m u n i t ydaily by a film crew for the Travel Channel reality show, Xtreme Waterparks, on which he was very theatrically creating a TV image as the eccentric, mad genius of waterpark buildersand that, he did. Henry was flying on company planes continuously between Corpus Christi, New Braunfels and Kansas City, where he was building Verrckt, his next, tallest, fastest water slide on earth, that would eventually lead to the failure of Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi and Kansas City and ultimately, the Henry familys exit from the waterpark industry altogether. Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi was genuinely intended by Jeff Henry to become his masterpiece waterpark resortlarger than his island parks in Galveston or South Padre Island and applying the campground atmosphere of New Braunfels to a tropical, beach-side setting. While Henrys overly-optimistic, promised com-pletion dates for Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi were missed, one after another, its spring 2015 opening was met with huge crowds as well as thousands of season pass buyers. The following two seasons were just as successful, then it took a turn.Many of the parks features, like the 8,000-foot-long lazy river, the wave machine, the features for little kids, the stage and swim-up bars, were exceedingly popular, even if several of the parks biggest slides were never completed. Ultimately, Jeff Henrys thirst for fame overcame his business sense and led to the downfall of the company he and his family built over a period of four decades. Henrys neglect for safety in his rush to complete Verrckt for Travel Channel cameras led to the grisly death of a ten-year-old boy at Schlitterbahn Kansas City, which led to second de-gree murder charges against him and two of his employeescharges they beat in criminal courtbut which then led to the targeted bankruptcies of the Corpus Christi and Kansas City parks and the sale of New Braunfels and Galveston.In 2018, the debt holder, International Bank of Commerce, foreclosed on the Cor-pus Christi property, then repurchased it at auction with the intent of re-opening it under the management of its operating company, Diamond Beach Holdings. With a new identity as Waves Resort, most notably marked by the ill-advised and literal whitewashing of the hotel and entire main building from its original, nat-ural, Hill Country woodto snow whiteIBC operated it for a season and a half, cut short by Covid. Last year, the resort was demolished, marking an end to theA Most Inviting Community to Visit or ResideThe distinctive Padre Island welcome sign featuring first Padre Isles era as the last of the original country club property was razed toa massive sailfish monument created by world renown sculptor and island resident, Kent Ullberg. make room for the next generation for The Island, Whitecap Preserve. The Gulf Stream Current (depicted below) that gives the Texas coast its unique ecology.Port Aransas and Padre Island are experiencing development success in op-posite directions, and always have. Port A has always been one of the favorite beach-going and fishing escapes for rich and famous South Texans, like Kings, Kle-bergs and Butts, actor Tommy Lee Jones, San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt, and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. In the 1970s and 80s, the largest condo-tel com-plexes were built on Mustang Island, most within Port A city limits like The Sand-piper and Seagull, Aransas Princess, Sandcastle, The Dunes and Cranes Landing.Unlike on Padre Island, bay-side development in Port A has been limited to Island Moorings, where most homes are single-family canal-front, plus a wide range of condominiums from overnight efficiencies, to grand units that feature magnif-icent sunset views over Corpus Christi Bay from sprawling balconies. The total bay-side housing units in Port A number in the hundreds, however, compared to thousands on Padre Island. The turn to the very high-end was marked by the suc-cess of Cinnamon Shore, which was slow to come after its launch amid the 2008 real estate implosionbut after markets recovered, the community sold out and the median 3,000-square-foot house these days is selling for over $1.5 million.The majority of buyers have come from the San Antonio and Austin areas, most attracted by strong short-term rental income. Famed developer and Minnesota Vikings owner, Red McCombs real estate company took over the failed Newport Dunes golf project, re-branding the property as Palmilla Beach while reducing the golf course to nine holes to make room for more residential and amenities. Their success speaks for itself, as the project sells out at historically high prices.TheCoastalBend.com THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE39'