CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If all goes according to one developer's vision, the North Beach area of Corpus Christi could someday be transformed into "the happiest place in Texas."
It's part of a $40 million proposed master plan that would include a 10-foot deep, 60-foot wide canal.
The biggest challenge for developers right now is resolving the area's drainage problems.
"The only solution is let the rainwater flow freely out to the bay," developer Jeff Blackard said.
Blackard, a committee member of the North Beach Project, said he came up with the idea of a canal as a solution to flooding five years ago.
"I had to get all the experts to come in and say, 'This is genius. All you've got to do is create a canal and go out to the bay. Why wouldn't you do that to correct the problem?'" Blackard said. "So I got pushed back and now I have all the experts on our side."
The developers produced a video that shows how a canal could virtually transform North Beach into a get-a-way destination with shops and walkways, a 3,500 seat amphitheater and two parking garages that will fit 1,200 vehicles.
Committee members have dubbed the project "The Happiest Place in Texas."
"If you build it and it's of the same quality as the Aquarium that we're in, and you have other things for people to do, like amusement parks and other things, this will be the place that everybody comes," Blackard said.
"It's just a diamond in the rough," Fajitaville owner Lynn Frazier said.
Frazier and several other North Beach business owners are all for Blackard's canal idea, witnessing first-hand what poor drainage can do.
"Having a restaurant, if it's flooding, nobody is going to come see us. So it's really bad that way," Frazier said. "When the floodings happening, nobody comes to eat."
"There is a flooding problem, but if you fix the flooding problem investors will come in," Nueces County Commissioner Carolyn Vaughn said.
Vaughn said Blackard's idea is "do-able."
"How beautiful is that to have the boats and the people walking on the sideways, I mean, it can happen," Vaughn said. "If we just change our attitudes, it can happen."
The proposed plan will be presented to Corpus Christi's City Council during next week's meeting.
Blackard said the canal project could get underway in about six months.