Baytown

we have faced is that it’s extremelycongested.So,what we are constructing is a parallel boulevard,named San Jacinto Boulevard,to thewest of Garth Road that will tie in thewestern portion of our city to the shop- ping area.We’re connecting Garth Road to San Jacinto Boulevardwith several other newboulevards that will intersect themall theway fromNorthMain Street, which parallels Garth Road to the east and JohnMartin Road,which parallels Garth Road,far to thewest.So, we’re creating,basically,a grid of boulevards tomove people in and out of our high traffic,retail areas in order to relieve the congestion.The first phase of the San Jacinto project is nearlycomplete and the second phasewill be complete sometime next year.” Another project is the San JacintoMall.“We have an oldmall,San JacintoMall,which has been in existence since 1981,”DonCarlos continues.“It’s one of those malls that went through an unfortunate series of own- ers,never had anyupgrades,andwas,frankly,a failing mall.Wemanaged to get themall sold from its then current owner to Fidelis Realtyout of Houston,which is a redevelopment company.Theyhaveworked up a master plan to completelychange our mall froman indoor mall to an outdoor shopping areawith plazas, fountains,green spaces,and a lot of amenities for our citizens.It’s a beautiful design.We’re finalizing negotia- tions with themajor anchors to have themsign on and approve the redevelopment project,andwe hope that that is going to start about mid-year.” CityManager,RickDavis,adds that the total expense for theMall project is expected to be $100,000,000, with a $70,000,000 commitment from the city,the Texas Department of Transportation,Harris County,the developer,other propertyowners,and theTax Incre- LEADINGMEDICINE INYOURCOMMUNITY Where you gomakes a Difference ProViDingQuaLiTy care cLose Tohome Baytown and Houston since 1948, Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital continues to grow by enhancing and expanding its services in step with the rapid growth of the community. Houston Methodist San Jacinto has been recognized as one of the area’s only not-for-profit, church-affiliated medical centers. The hospital continues to meet the needs of our community and region with cutting-edge medical services and technology. 4401 Garth Rd. | Baytown, TX 77521 281.428.2273 houstonmethodist.org/sanjacinto BAYTOWN, TEXAS ment Reinvestment ZoneAuthority for contiguous transportation improvements including the reorien- tation of trafficoff of Interstate 10,tomake sure that most of it comes to the newSan Jacinto Boulevard. “It’s a veryexciting project,”says Davis.“An interesting part of it is that,at the intersection of Hunt Road and the newSan Jacinto Boulevard,we are placing a large roundabout with a sixteen-foot statue of SamHouston, pointing toward the San JacintoMonument.That was the decisive battle for Texas independence.So,we’re proud to highlight that.We alsowill have veryunique landscaping along San Jacinto that will make it a showpiece for the city.” Another major project is the planned construction of a $56-million hotel/conference center at the base of the FredHartman Bridge,which links Baytown to the Cityof La Porte,across theHouston Ship Channel.“This will be a 208-key,hotel with a full-service conference center,”Davis reveals.“We think it’s a game changer for our communityand it’s also a very important invest- ment in the south end of our city,which is where we have targeted revitalization.Our frontier is to our north,our older section of town is to the south,and so it would be quite easy for us just to continue to build newstuff to the north–that’s where themall is and some newresidential development.But we felt that it was very important to revitalize the southern part of our city.The hotel/conference center is integral to accomplishing that.We believe that it will be in con- struction this summer and that it will be completed by December of 2019.” Another example of revitalization in the city’s older, southern part is Baytown’sArts,Culture,and Entertain- ment (ACE) District,where the cityhas already invested