The Bay City Tourism Council heard an update on the Texas Theater and Herald building restoration project as part of its regular meeting Wednesday, Feb. 2.
Council members Sue Crow, Pam Oliver, Jessica Perez, Shea Ingram, and Raleigh Conklin were present for the meeting.
Members absent include Nicasio Perez and Carla Rae Southard.
Renovation costs for the Texas Theater and Herald building are estimated between $8-10 million.
“That number is subject to change depending on any specific needs we have,” said Tourism Manager Heidi Martinez.
“This project originally started out with input from Community Actors of South Texas (CAST) and the Art League. We had plans to make it into sort of a visitors’ information center and provide public bathrooms during office hours.”
Martinez added that the proposed office space would be for her use as Tourism Manager.
“But, now that CAST has a building and the Art League is in limbo, we can review our plans.”
“I’ve been approached by the Main Street Program and Bay City Community Development Corporation (BCCDC) about this project and the cost for the city to do something with this structure would be more than we can handle,” said City Manager Shawna Burkhart.
“We would have to call a bond for the $8-10 million and that’s not something we’re looking to do with other projects needing our attention first.
“We already have $400,000 set aside in the Tourism budget for this project but need much more.”
BCCDC Executive Director Jessica Russell told the board about private investors interested in the buildings.
“The city can’t give away the building to a private entity, but the CDC can as a 501c3 non-profit,” explained Russell.
“The city can give us the building then we can give it to the developer with an interlocal agreement.
“After all, the city and tourism department has put a lot of money into it already.”
Russell explained that the CDC could buy back the completely renovated buildings with the developer retaining a portion of the Herald building for boutique shop fronts.
“Our concern is to have sole possession of the building and meanwhile make use of it,” she added.
“We want to support restoring these old buildings downtown. A private investor doesn’t have to go out for bids like the city does and can get it done for cheaper in the long run.”
“If we’re moving forward, we will want this to be legally binding,” added Burkhart.
“We want the investor to be bound to restoring this in a historically accurate manner and provide for fair use for the public.”
The board took no formal action on the discussion item and Martinez is scheduling another meeting with her board to hear directly from the investor.
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