Bastrop, Tx–Ongoing public works construction projects on Chestnut Street are setting additional private development dreams in motion, including a modest barbecue restaurant and an ambitious arts center immediately west of the Union Pacific rail line and almost next door to a new city hall and convention center.
Steve Cartwright is opening a small barbecue restaurant in part of the Star Mart convenience store at Chestnut and Haysel Street. Remodeling work is underway and the opening is planned for early May.
Cartwright operated a popular barbecue restaurant in the 900 block of Main Street beginning in the late 1980s and later built and sold the current Cartwright BBQ on Texas 71. A non compete clause in the sales agreement for that enterprise is expiring, he said in an interview this week. He plans to open his new venture with a basic barbecue menu, a few tables and takeout service, he said.
Meanwhile, immediately across Chestnut to the north, Clyde Clardy said he has agreed to sell the site and its metal-clad 19th century building of 12,000 square feet to a local arts group which hopes to redevelop the the property as an art center with studios, teaching space and display galleries. Presently used as an auto repair facility, the main building dates to the 1890s or earlier and was formerly used to house a cotton gin, cotton seed storage and still later a grain storage facility beside the rail depot.
Clardy, who has owned the property since 1970, said the transaction has up to a year to close. He would not comment on the agreed sales price, put by one unconfirmed source at $400,000.
The non profit Bastrop Fine Arts Guild has been raising funds for a few years with the goal of establishing a downtown gallery and related arts facilities. The group will hold its major annual fund raising gala, An Artful Afternoon, on April 17 in Bastrop.
Owners of other Chestnut Street properties, including the Star Mart and the former coin operated laundry at Chestnut and Hill Street, also report being approached in recent weeks by property shoppers interested in the area and its redevelopment potential.
The Bastrop Economic Development Corp. is paying for utility, sidewalk and landscaping upgrades along Chestnut from Water Street to the railroad. That work could be finished as early as June.
City voters approved building a new city hall in 2003 and work began early this year. The building should be finished and occupied before year’s end. The convention center, which will be largely paid for with hotel room rent taxes, is expected to open early in 2011.