b'E d i t o rClockwise from Left: Night rendering of the new Harbor Bridge; Waterfront festival on Tampa, Floridas Riverwalk; Revitalized downtown theater; South end of proposed canal on North Beach; Canal entrance from Corpus Christi Bay.Corpus Christi 2030 With the citys transformation happening before our I f you take a minute to peruse our new Guide to Coastal Bend Industryeyes, what will we have after the big changes take hold?zone. Since that vote, one that our City Council and City Manager have completely section (page 94), you will learn in reasonable detail that our communityignored and/or forgotten, but not rescinded, they have been back at work re-evalu-is home to some of the most advanced, environmentally-friendly, indus- ating multiple options for North Beach, including those that were rejected in 2019. trial plants on earthin the production of steel, plastics, and pharmaceu- This is the same variety of administrative incompetence that cost us a billion-dollar, ticals, and in the refining of crude oil, and soon, lithium for extended-lifeSandestin-style resort on North Padre Island in 2006.batteries. The players are the worlds leading manufacturers that are to- If we close our eyes and imagine the good vision for North Beach in 2030, we would gether in the process of investing almost $70 billion in the Coastal Bend. see Blackards plan or some close rendering of a beautiful and thriving communi-As we enter the second half of our new Roaring 20s, we should take a minute toty with a marina, restaurants and shops, public spaces including an amphitheater, recognize how different Corpus Christi will look and operate, six years from now.hotels and condos, all in a safe and picturesque waterfront setting. That reality will Following years of delays, our new and sparkling, billion-dollar Harbor Bridge willtake strong leadership in bold colors, and not the limp pastels to which we are ac-soon become the new icon for the city. What will be the longest and tallest ca- custom. For those of us jaded by decades of disappointment, the real vision is more ble-stay bridge in North America, the new Harbor Bridge will provide a safer trafficof what there is currently on North Beacha few diamonds in a rough of empty corridor, while allowing for larger ships to enter the Port of Corpus Christis innerand overgrown lots, broken down buildings, and nefarious characters walking the harbora direct impact of the recent expansion of the Panama Canal.streetsjust dozens of acres more.By 2030, the new bridge will be in operation, and the old (current) Harbor BridgeTwenty years ago, South Congress Avenue in Austin was largely dilapidated, over-will have been demolished, clearing more than 50 combined acres on both sidesgrown and vacant, home to its share of drug dealers and prostitutes. Today, South of the channel. On the North Beach side, some 20 city blocks will be restored thatCongress is rebuilt, modern, occupied and bustling with activitythe good kind were lost when the old bridge was constructed in 1959the event that marked thethat sustains business and jobs. Corpus Christis north side deserves a break. With decline of North Beach, when the center of its population was displaced and hasthe new highway system that has come with the new bridge, the Leopard Street never returned. With the exceptions of a few condo complexes, a couple hotels, theoverpass that connects downtown to the Port Avenue area is rather magnificent, Lex, the Aquarium, and Lighthouse Pointe apartments in 2021, there is little invest- new infrastructure that continues with new streets and sidewalks south, past Roy ment or economic activity on the peninsula that was once the recreational centerMiller High School and to Nueces Bay Boulevard, site of a new Starbucks where of South Texasat least for the first half of the 20th Century. the beloved Old Mexico restaurant stood for decades. Some of the sprawling, old After Dallas-based developer, Jeff Blackard, spent two years and hundreds of thou- mansions and oversized homes located in the Westgate neighborhood, south of sands of dollars, at the request of the City of Corpus Christi, conceiving a redevel- Up River Road, have been purchased and restored by those who see a rejuvenat-opment plan for North Beach, City Council voted 9-0 in December 2019 to approveed future on the north side. In time, could this stretch of Leopard Street be our a $42.5 million budget for the construction of a navigable canal that would both fixSouth Congress Avenue? Only with visionary leadership whom the public trusts the areas chronic flooding problem and provide a Riverwalk-style entertainmentand which generates excitement among Corpus Christians.18THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'