Destination Bayfront Q&A

Destination Bayfront:

“Creating a Great Public Space Right Here in Corpus Christi”

(Excerpts from article published in CC Magazine, written by Peter Desopo)

Destination Bayfront has been showing its presentation to groups and organizations throughout the City. They are thrilled with the overwhelming support and positive feedback they continue to get. But despite their view that this would be a great addition to Corpus Christi, there are still those who feel the need to question whether such a concept could succeed here. It’s almost as if the life mission of certain people is to shoot down any new idea before it can gain traction.

So to answer some of the common questions received, here is food for thought:

Q: Does this concept only work in big cities like New York, Houston and San Diego?

A: Not at all, they have been extremely successful in cities smaller than Corpus Christi like Savannah, GA, Chattanooga, TN and New Haven, CT.

Q: Are we just going to duplicate what we’ve seen in other cities?

A: Absolutely not. Corpus Christi has many features other cities can’t duplicate such as our bayfront, our weather and our people. We will create something unique given the assets we have to work with.

Q: Can Corpus afford to create a destination public space?

A: Definitely. Some cities are able to raise money quickly and build the whole thing right away. Other cities have to build over time in stages. We’ll have to raise some private funds, but there should be access to federal funds, state funds, county funds, or various other grants. We’ll have to be creative in our funding and we’ll have to stay within our means.

Q: What will prevent this space from becoming run down like so many other parks throughout town?

A: Just about every public space has a conservancy type structure which maintains the area, keeps it safe and manages the activities. Conservancies are privately run and have their own Board of Directors. Their focus in on the one area so they can keep focused on that.

Q: Will there be enough parking?

A: When you create a place focused on parking and traffic, you end up with a place focused on parking and traffic. When you create a place focused on people and activities, you end up with a place focused on people and activities. It’s a good question but at this time, all that can be said is all other models researched showed no significant parking issues.

There are many common threads that have made destination public spaces successful in other cities. They’ve needed private groups working in conjunction with city staff. They’ve needed the communities input and support. And they’ve needed the conservancy type structure to help plan, execute and maintain the vision.

Destination Bayfront is a team of volunteers who are working to create something great. They research public spaces throughout the country and the world in order to learn from their successes and their failures. They have been receiving an amazing amount of support and plenty of offers to help. All appreciated greatly. It is then that JJ adds,

“As we move forward, the work required will continue to increase and we expect to take you up on those offers in the near future. In the meantime, spread the word so that we can work together to make Corpus Christi as great as we all know it can be”.

When the time comes to ask the community for its input, and that time will come, we encourage you to let your imaginations run wild. Reach for the moon with your ideas. At worst, they’re beyond our scope. At best, your ideas could become reality.

If you’d like to see a destination public space along our Bayfront, email City Council and let them know. Learn more about us at www.destinationbayfront.org. Become a fan of our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/destinationbayfront. We will continue to update our Facebook page with news and events. Email us your thoughts at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I personally want to thank JJ for his story, time and effort. It is time for this city to start thinking on its own two feet. Corpus Christi is our home and I think it is OUR responsibility to develop it. I am honored we have a guy like JJ Hart as our neighbor but most importantly I am glad he has become our friend. Corpus Christi is our home. Be proud and support its destination.

JJ has also created The Coastal Wave, a premier Calendar of Events for Corpus Christi.  The Coastal Wave will be featured in a future issue of CC Magazine.