I humbly and respectfully propose this. No need to get into contract negotiations with a 3rd party that CoCS will totally mess up, no need for much if any taxpayer money. Bada boom bada bing, food vendors etc and all we have to do is book some decent talent not a bunch of cover and tribute bands, someone college kids/young professionals will actually come to see.

maroon barchetta said:

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Buy out the Fellowship Church office building and there is your restaurant site!

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NO!

Don't spend a penny on a restaurant ! Spend time and resources on getting talent here not facilities. Bands/musicians do not care about facilities, they care about pay. They'll play at the landfill of the money is right. Do not give politico's an excuse to spend money.

Bob Yancy said:

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4) Possibly….possibly- incentivize a nice private sector food/beverage facility in the old Sears service center. Also with expanded parking and a grander pedestrian entrance into WPC oriented from that north side.

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What happened to this? We bid it to Turner Behringer Construction in 2023, we were given a letter of intent to award in April 2023 in order to get product submittals coming and then they shut it all down citing conflicts with CoCS? I figured the GC/developer were having 2nd thoughts and blaming it on CoCS to us subs but never knew the real story they shut it down. Would have been a nice addition to CSTX.

EliteElectric said:

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Bob Yancy said:

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4) Possibly….possibly- incentivize a nice private sector food/beverage facility in the old Sears service center. Also with expanded parking and a grander pedestrian entrance into WPC oriented from that north side.

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What happened to this? We bid it to Turner Behringer Construction in 2023, we were given a letter of intent to award in April 2023 in order to get product submittals coming and then they shut it all down citing conflicts with CoCS? I figured the GC/developer were having 2nd thoughts and blaming it on CoCS to us subs but never knew the real story they shut it down. Would have been a nice addition to CSTX.

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Some sort of corporate falling out within the company. Nothing to do with the city.

My recollection, as one member of council.

Respectfully

Yancy '95

Fill the pond/moat with dirt. Grass up front trees in the back.
Cheaper than concrete and wont contribute to making the place miserably hot.

If a concrete pad is wanted as a staging area; fine if it has a purpose. Just don't fill the whole thing in as a default.

EliteElectric said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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Buy out the Fellowship Church office building and there is your restaurant site!

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NO!

Don't spend a penny on a restaurant ! Spend time and resources on getting talent here not facilities. Bands/musicians do not care about facilities, they care about pay. They'll play at the landfill of the money is right. Do not give politico's an excuse to spend money.

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Patrons and ticket buyers care about facilities. Wolf Pen needs an upgrade and an entrepreneur wants to do it in exchange for the rights to book the venue for the artists you are referring to.

Parkland like this is one place where an RFP process makes sense. It can't be sold to someone who will maximize its value (unlike Macy's and the parking lot).

If the contract is such that even in a pessimistic scenario (revenue isn't realized, maintenance doesn't happen, fraud) the taxpayers aren't worse off that the status quo, I wouldn't be upset. If there is a bidding war and the resulting contract means we could actually see an upside, great.

But the worry is that someone convinces the city that they have to spend money to make money and we end up with council dumping a bunch of money into a loser project like a superpark, championship field, or a Macy's because of irrational exuberance from city hall.

Brian Alg said:

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irrational exuberance from city hall.

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This is what everyone is worried about, because it seems to happen......frequently

How about letting the Arts Council run the place, and generate revenue through sponsorships, ticket sales, concessions, VIP seating, Club seating, etc. Similar to the CWMP, which is run by a non-profit. I like the idea of a food truck area rather than a restaurant, but the venue could sell drinks and snacks and alcoholic beverages. Hire a company to add some seating and shade cover and you're good to go. Plenty of parking at the mall.

The downside to wasting money is city government should be stewards of our tax dollars, I know that concept may be foreign inside the building but it's fairly clear to those of us who are paying the taxes.

Can't wait to see the whole area improved. We should look to Aggie Park as a model of what can be done with an underutilized space!

by all means, donate all of your money for the cause

Buford T. Justice said:

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I realize that your question was not directed to me, but I would like to offer a suggestion. Instead of committing to a fixed restaurant building, possibly consider parking slabs for food trucks, with covered patio seating/standing at the top of the hill.

But, something would have to be done with the generator noise.

Just a thought.

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I don't think we have enough food trucks (I'm excluding taco trucks) without semi-permanent homes to really make that worthwhile. As for the food trucks I remember that congregated in and around Northgate in the early 2010s (with the exception of Chef Tai, which is now exclusive to campus) have gone under. No more Southern Comfort Road Trip, no more Madden's Street Cuisine, no more Mr. Chinese Burger, and others have graduated to full restaurants. There was that food truck park off Church Avenue that was a huge failure, and I think that part of it was the fact that there just aren't enough "real" food trucks to go around.

Bob Yancy said:

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Here's what one private sector group wants to do, at no expense to the taxpayer. (See images) These would be leasehold improvements done at their expense and they would be responsible for booking talent during the leased nights. The taxpayers would receive lease payments and the community would benefit from overnight tourism, timed with other sports tourism events, and enhance entertainment options.

Thoughts? Respectfully,

Yancy '95

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I like the idea of a canopy for the amphitheater, filling everything in concrete not so much. The concrete is a horrible idea in itself but it contributes to looking overbuilt, and I don't think College Station will ever attract the big acts that places like Moody Amphitheater in Austin and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion get. Parking would also be a major issue, both of those amphitheaters have paid parking garages nearby (in Austin, they basically converted the parking garages for visitors to the Capitol and for employees to paid parking, as most shows were in the evening and after business hours). The best parking lot for that is the largely disused space near JCPenney and even though it has served as event parking in the past I'm not sure if it was ever paid parking (and a "real" concert would use up more space).

I'm also curious about that cluster of trees being "standing room only" space. Are they implying they'd cut those trees down? It sure sounds like it...

Honestly, if there was a park that I'd like to see CS Parks to take after, it would be something like Tom Bass Park in Pearland. It's very similar if you took Central Park and Wolf Pen Creek, put them a bit closer together, and put a golf course in between them. (A public course at Wolf Pen is impractical). It has pretty much everything the parks do (amphitheater, ponds, playgrounds, tennis, basketball, big fields).

If I were to add ideas for Wolf Pen Creek Park it would be this...

1. Go ahead and add the canopies to the amphitheater but don't get too hasty with the concrete, nor add permanent entry points. I liked how the amphitheater area blended in with the rest of the park.
2. Figure out a permanent, cost-effective solution to the silt issue and restore the lakes as they stood prior to 1999.
3. Tear down the Sears parts and repair center and replace with more parkland.

On the subject of the Wolf Pen Creek corridor, two other comments I have:
- It would be nice if it extended to Texas Avenue. I don't know the logistics of how that would work. Crossing George Bush Drive East seems like it would be the easiest and could integrate with Taco Bell, but working behind Wolf Creek Lube Center and Advance Auto Parts sounds like it be more difficult since there doesn't seem to be enough space to add a trail between them and the creek.
- Ozona Grill is still empty. I think the Eccell Group (or whatever Costa and Andreas are calling their company these days) talked about some sort of new concept there but I think they've abandoned it for the time being.

Quote:

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3. Tear down the Sears parts and repair center and replace with more parkland.

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The big problem with that, even larger than taking a prime location permanently off the tax rolls, is that the old Sears is privately owned. The city doesn't own it. Yet.

However if the city was made aware it was for sale for 5 million, I am sure they could pay double for it, the drop another million or 2 into parking and parking lot lighting, and we would have a really nice place to park 6 days a year.

EliteElectric said:

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Quote:

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3. Tear down the Sears parts and repair center and replace with more parkland.

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The big problem with that, even larger than taking a prime location permanently off the tax rolls, is that the old Sears is privately owned. The city doesn't own it. Yet.

However if the city was made aware it was for sale for 5 million, I am sure they could pay double for it, the drop another million or 2 into parking and parking lot lighting, and we would have a really nice place to park 6 days a year.

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I wonder if the owners would trade for a Macy's?

PS3D said:

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Buford T. Justice said:

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I realize that your question was not directed to me, but I would like to offer a suggestion. Instead of committing to a fixed restaurant building, possibly consider parking slabs for food trucks, with covered patio seating/standing at the top of the hill.

But, something would have to be done with the generator noise.

Just a thought.

---

I don't think we have enough food trucks (I'm excluding taco trucks) without semi-permanent homes to really make that worthwhile. As for the food trucks I remember that congregated in and around Northgate in the early 2010s (with the exception of Chef Tai, which is now exclusive to campus) have gone under. No more Southern Comfort Road Trip, no more Madden's Street Cuisine, no more Mr. Chinese Burger, and others have graduated to full restaurants. There was that food truck park off Church Avenue that was a huge failure, and I think that part of it was the fact that there just aren't enough "real" food trucks to go around.

Bob Yancy said:

---

Here's what one private sector group wants to do, at no expense to the taxpayer. (See images) These would be leasehold improvements done at their expense and they would be responsible for booking talent during the leased nights. The taxpayers would receive lease payments and the community would benefit from overnight tourism, timed with other sports tourism events, and enhance entertainment options.

Thoughts? Respectfully,

Yancy '95

---

I like the idea of a canopy for the amphitheater, filling everything in concrete not so much. The concrete is a horrible idea in itself but it contributes to looking overbuilt, and I don't think College Station will ever attract the big acts that places like Moody Amphitheater in Austin and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion get. Parking would also be a major issue, both of those amphitheaters have paid parking garages nearby (in Austin, they basically converted the parking garages for visitors to the Capitol and for employees to paid parking, as most shows were in the evening and after business hours). The best parking lot for that is the largely disused space near JCPenney and even though it has served as event parking in the past I'm not sure if it was ever paid parking (and a "real" concert would use up more space).

I'm also curious about that cluster of trees being "standing room only" space. Are they implying they'd cut those trees down? It sure sounds like it...

Honestly, if there was a park that I'd like to see CS Parks to take after, it would be something like Tom Bass Park in Pearland. It's very similar if you took Central Park and Wolf Pen Creek, put them a bit closer together, and put a golf course in between them. (A public course at Wolf Pen is impractical). It has pretty much everything the parks do (amphitheater, ponds, playgrounds, tennis, basketball, big fields).

If I were to add ideas for Wolf Pen Creek Park it would be this...

1. Go ahead and add the canopies to the amphitheater but don't get too hasty with the concrete, nor add permanent entry points. I liked how the amphitheater area blended in with the rest of the park.
2. Figure out a permanent, cost-effective solution to the silt issue and restore the lakes as they stood prior to 1999.
3. Tear down the Sears parts and repair center and replace with more parkland.

On the subject of the Wolf Pen Creek corridor, two other comments I have:
- It would be nice if it extended to Texas Avenue. I don't know the logistics of how that would work. Crossing George Bush Drive East seems like it would be the easiest and could integrate with Taco Bell, but working behind Wolf Creek Lube Center and Advance Auto Parts sounds like it be more difficult since there doesn't seem to be enough space to add a trail between them and the creek.
- Ozona Grill is still empty. I think the Eccell Group (or whatever Costa and Andreas are calling their company these days) talked about some sort of new concept there but I think they've abandoned it for the time being.

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Helpful feedback here and frankly, the reason I engage on Texags. Thanks much!

Respectfully

Yancy '95

Bob Yancy said:

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Here's what one private sector group wants to do, at no expense to the taxpayer. (See images) These would be leasehold improvements done at their expense and they would be responsible for booking talent during the leased nights. The taxpayers would receive lease payments and the community would benefit from overnight tourism, timed with other sports tourism events, and enhance entertainment options.

Thoughts? Respectfully,

Yancy '95

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This is the best thing I've seen on this website in quite sometime. Please make it happen. There's no reason a town full of 70,000 college students shouldn't be treated to live music every weekend throughout the year.

I think the point several are trying to make is that, even with all this, we're not going to see a huge uptick in live entertainment.

If a bunch of money is spent, and we continue to get 1-2 acts a year apart from the city's cover band palooza in the summer along with the BYX Jesusfest, we're not going to be better off.

The only reason the moat is full of water is because people were using it as a mosh pit and people got upset. Also, it was never used as an orchestra pit, as it was originally intended (why, I do not know). I agree with PS3D's suggestion to do whatever it takes to make certain areas of the park hold water like they were originally supposed to. Place looks like a dry river (creek) bed--which it is. Not good!