K-STATION ON THE HORIZON

By Trishna Buch
“La Marque is experiencing a Renaissance.” Those are
the words of the City of La Marque when speaking about
their downtown revitalization plan. Began in 2015, the
plan was split into three phases—phase one, two and
three—and the city is currently working on phase three.
The first phase was a study of the conditions, the second
phase was a series of studies, meetings and focus
groups, conducted by the Texas A&M Texas Coastal
Watershed Program, which allowed residents to discuss
what they wanted to see in the revitalization and the third
phase is the planning stages.
When I spoke to Colleen Merritt, public relations specialist
of the city’s economic development corporation,
she told me that the first and current focus is on 401
Laurel Street, located in downtown La Marque. “We start
with 401 Laurel and then we will go back to the information
gained from our phase two meetings and determine
what we can do next,” Merritt told me. According to the
city’s website, the building located at 401 Laurel Street
will be getting a facelift. “We want to add a restaurant to
the location, that would serve breakfast, lunch and dinner,”
Merritt told me.
A strategic plan outlined by the city provided more
details on the downtown revitalization plan. For the
short term, the city hopes to expand downtown business
opportunities by creating space for places to purchase
children’s toys, antiques, goods and more. The city also,
in the short term, hopes to provide spaces for a deli, an
internet café, a community events center, daycare, a
salon and more. In the longer term basis, the city hopes
to provide spaces for a clothing store, a bookstore, an
Ace Hardware, a pet supply store, a health club, a mailing
and copy center, a performing-event space and more.
However, based on the Business Development Strategies
outlined in the revitalization plan, these goals could take
anywhere between one and five years to reach, and would
depend on funding from different locations—namely the
city’s fund and the Economic Development Corporation.
According to the revitalization plan, other goals for
the city are to create a Neighborhood Crime and Safety
Plan, draw people to the Renaissance District by creating
public parks, make the CBD (central business district)
more aesthetically pleasing, deal with concerns regarding
bicycle and pedestrian safety and more. And, during a
walking study conducted of the city’s study area—which
is Laurel Street, from Bayou Road to Yupon Drive, and
1st Street—from Bayou Road to SH-3—it was found that,
among many other factors, pavement markings need
repainting, potholes need to be filled, parking lots need
remarking, and residential homes need sidewalks. You
can gain a more comprehensive look at the work needed
by going to http://ci.la-marque.tx.us/405/Renaissance-
District and clicking on “Revitalization Plan.”
This downtown revitalization has been three years in
the making, and it will—as Merritt said—take a while to
be fully completed. However, with the second phase of
the plan already completed, it is now the city’s goal to
focus on the facelift of 401 Laurel Street, after which they
will move on to the next goal. Along with this, the city is
tirelessly working on beautifying it’s streets, to make La
Marque a vibrant and booming city, that everyone will
want to vist.
For more information, and more detailed look at
the revitalization plan, go online to http://ci.la-marque.
tx.us/405/Renaissance-District.