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November 19, 2009

Pavilion, landscaping two PAEDC downtown projects

By Sherry Koonce

The News staff writer

Inviting signs welcoming people to Port Arthur’s downtown, attractive lamp posts, planter boxes anchoring beautifully landscaped streets and an modernized pavilion are among projects in the works by Port Arthur’s Economic Development Corporation.

Floyd Batiste, director, said the EDC decided on two enterprises to kick-start the city’s efforts to revitalize its downtown.

In September, the EDC commissioned Rice University architectural students to create a landscaping design for downtown. Students are developing 3-D renderings of what a newly-landscaped Procter and Seventh streets would look like. Those results should be received by mid-December.

At the same time, the EDC is planning a project that would update the city’s downtown pavilion.

“We would like to see something offering protection from weather,” he said.

Because the pavilion is the centerstage for Mardi Gras activities and other downtown events, Batiste said it was a natural place to start improvements.

Batiste said the EDC has studied other pavilions and has an idea what they would like.

Both projects will be funded from $750,000 set aside from the EDC’s $4.2 million budget this year. Voters approved a proposition last May allowing the EDC to dedicate $750,000 in sales tax funds annually for the next three years for downtown development projects.

The bulk of the EDC downtown project funds will be used to provide monetary incentives to developers. For each $3 put into construction, the EDC will provide $1. To qualify, a downtown project must be at least $100,000.

Projects must be performed in targeted areas from Martin Luther King Blvd., to Lake Charles Street and from Seventh to Canal Street.

“These projects are very exciting, but I think we must all realize the city’s downtown will not be revitalized overnight,” Batiste said. “It took Houston 22 years to revitalize their downtown. With a new convention center there and a ballpark, our downtown project is not as big, so hopefully it will not take us nearly that long.

skoonce@panews.com



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