CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi's multimillion-dollar plan to redevelop and upgrade several parks in the northside neighborhood, impacted by the construction of the new Harbor Bridge has come to a standstill.
This comes after concerns were raised that the plan does not include a community pool.
Some may recall that there was once a pool at T.C. Ayers Park, which was demolished to make way for the new Harbor Bridge Project.
The Hillcrest Advisory Board voted 4-3 to reject the city's park development plan for the area around the bridge. The main issue, is whether a pool was part of the original agreement.
The board was established by the Texas Department of Transportation in 2015 to ensure that residents affected by the bridge's construction on the city's northside had a means to provide input.
In a letter to the Federal Highway Administration , the advisory board sub-committee requested that the city's parks plan be modified to include a replacement municipal swimming pool. They cite a previous requirement stating that the remainder of T.C. Ayers Park, including the municipal swimming pool, should be enhanced.
3NEWS previously reported on the plan to upgrade parks, including the addition of Washington Coles Park on the grounds of the former Booker T. Washington Elementary School.
The site is intended to serve as an entryway to the walking and biking trail that will lead up to and continue onto the new bridge.
Corpus Christi Assistant City Manger Neiman Young stated that the city had worked closely with the committee on the plan.
"We're kind of at a loss, simply based off the fact we know through multiple engagements we had prior to them taking an official vote there were statements of concurrence and statements of confidence in the plan. I don't know what happened in between the week before and the week of the vote they decided they wanted to reject the plan," he said.
3NEWS contacted members of the Hillcrest Advisory Board including Chairman Lamont Taylor, who said that this was not the appropriate time for a statement. However, back in April, Taylor said that he believed the project had only intensified the the feeling of isolation within the Northside community.
"It's heartbreaking because it has this neighborhood in a state of limbo. We've been isolated and neglected ever since they broke ground over there, once they separated Hillcrest from Washington-Coles," he said.
Young said the city had gone above and beyond to address improvements by proposing a plan that that costs $16 million, nearly eight times the original earmarked amount for the project.
Regarding the pool, Young said that there are various factors to to consider.
"That's pretty difficult we don't think that's economically feasible at the moment but we are continuing to engage with the CAB and we are continuing to engage with TxDOT and the Federal Highway Association," he said.
The city has also submitted a letter to the Federal Highway Administration in Austin, justifying its case and requesting approval of the proposed plan.
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