CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Trade Center has been closed for two weeks, with residents eagerly awaiting its reopening. Where else can you get t-shirts, corn cups and a tattoo all in one place?
The building has been closed as a result of electrical issues with a service breaker. Trade Center General Manager Terry Remore hopes to reopen Friday.
"We're dying to get this place back open," Remore said.
He added that the center holds a special place in the hearts of many in the Corpus Christi community.
"This is no garbage sale type of place. This is everything brand new," Remore said.
But the center's electrical issues have been making the prospect of opening back up complicated.
"We've got an electrical contractor working on it. And if he's got all his parts, like we're supposed to have, we will be up and running this weekend," Remore said.
Just two weeks ago, the power of the facility was in bad shape, something Omar Lopez, with AEP Texas, said can be an extensive issue to fix.
"We saw that out of the three transformers, three fuses had been blown," Lopez said.
The city-wide storm that took place two weeks ago knocked the facility's power out, and AEP Texas was contacted.
"Our crews were able to re-fuse one of the transformers, but unfortunately, the facilities weren't safe enough to re-fuse the other two transformers. So a couple days later, they called us and asked for a disconnect," Lopez said.
When AEP Texas makes repairs, conditions have to be safe for workers to make those needed repairs.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't repair two of those. So now they have to hire an electrician to do the work on their end," Lopez said.
Lopez adds that once repairs are finished, additional inspection is needed before the center can consider reopening their doors.
"That's where we are right now. They're making their repairs. Once they pass the city inspection, we'll get notified and we'll reconnect," Lopez said.
3NEWS received a statement from the City of Corpus Christi that reads:
The Trade Center had electrical issues with a service breaker. AEP was called out and shut service down. Trade Center will have to correct issues to meet AEP standards, some of those repairs will require permits from Development Services, none has been applied for at this time. City did not order closure, it was an AEP action.
"Everything is looking real good right now. Come on back by the Trade Center. We'd love to see you here again," Remore said.
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