b'C o m m u n i t yBob Hall Pier first opened to the public in 1950 and over the 72 years since, has been destroyed by hur-ricanes and rebuilt three times, with the fourth in process now. The original, 300-foot wooden pier was built at a cost of about $17,000Nueces County has managed to find over $25 million from an assortment of sources for the new pier, with the demolition of the current one to be completed at the end of the summer. The newest part of the current pier, the restaurant and retail section known as Mikel Mays, will be retained, but a significant expansion of restaurant, retail and event space could be part of the new plan.Just about every public pier you see on the coasts of the United States offer much more than sightseeing andfishingtheyserveasdestinationsuntothem-selves, and Padre Island may at last be home to a true pleasure pier that acts as a major center of activity. In Bob Hall Piers heyday, more than 200,000 entries were A Glimpse Into the Future of North PadreBased in Irving,paid over the summer months, and that was with no Texas, Ashlar Development has built successful mastercommercial activity.planned communities in Greater Austin, Humble northThe Citys plan for the islands calls for an entertainment of Houston, and in suburban Nashville and North Dallas.and dining district adjacent to the new Whitecap Pre-Whitecap Preserve is the 10-year, $800 million developmentserve development on the former Schlitterbahn prop-approved by Corpus Christi City Council in May 2022 to beerty. The Padre Isles canal system on the back-side of built on the former Schlitterbahn site and adjacent tracts. Thethe island is being connected to Lake Padre at a point company promises high-end residential and commercial prop- along Park Road 22 that is halfway between the road to erties that will give new energy to the island, starting with aPort A (TX-361) and Whitecap Boulevard. Twin overpass much-desired and highly-accessible center of activity. bridges are being constructed on the main road, one of 46THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'