Bastrop, Tx–Public comments were restrained Tuesday when a design advisory group working with architect Mervin Fatter revealed the latest design ideas for a new Bastrop City Hall on Chestnut Street and a new convention center immediately across the street on the east side of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Officials declined to discuss the likely cost of either project. Mayor Terry Orr said other aspects of the proposed buildings will be discussed when the city council meets June 23.
The design panel includes Orr, City Manager Mike Talbot, Gary Schiff, former mayor Tom Scott, Dan Hays-Clark and Deborah Rogers. City hall plans were little changed from earlier iterations with features calculated to be reminiscent of railroad depot designs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The convention center plan reflects a more contemporary commercial style with the addition of a round stone tower topped with a metal section, possibly reminiscent of an elevated galvanize water tank. The depot and water tank elements are perhaps meant to suggest an earlier era when the intersection of Chestnut Street and the railroad became the hub of vital activities including cotton gins, warehousing, grain storage and shipping to distant regional and national markets. A rail line first reached Bastrop in 1886 and sparked a surge in economic activities of many kinds, many centered near the railroad.
Redeveloping the Chestnut Street corridor, including the convention center, can boost visitor and tourist traffic in Bastrop and provide a new stimulus to the historic business district centered on Main Street, proponents argue.
One wag at the Tuesday unveiling in the Kerr Community Center said the proposed convention center design reminded him of one of the new commercial buildings going up in the Burleson Crossing shopping center–with the addition of a tin water tank on top. The building exteriors will feature glass, stucco, native stone and brick, according to Fatter. Similar materials are planned to decorate the new city hall, he said.
Mervin Fatter has said privately he expects construction to cost $5 or 6 million. However, when questioned by an audience member about whether the project is within budget, Mayor Orr replied, “We don’t have a budget,” denying that there is any budget associated with the construction project at all, as if money were no object.
When asked if the Task Force had projected which kinds of functions would be the most common use of the facility, Mayor Orr said, “mostly trade shows and conventions,” but the TEEX study projects only 19% of usage to be attributable to out of town events.
When asked whether the property is located in a flood plane, both Mayor Orr and architect Mervin Fatter said it was not in a flood zone. Then City Manager Talbot added, “We got with FEMA and had them remove the flood plane.” Pretty convenient!
Bastrop is not ready for a convention center and won’t be without more and nicer hotel, dining, and entertainment attractions and some kind of public transportation. Something about this construction project stinks. Tom Scott and the convention center task force are trying to shove it down the community’s collective throat.