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 Mike
Doyle,
owner, Mike Doyle Custom Surfboards, Corpus Christi
"Everyone"s got all their focus on the T-heads, and that"s fine and good, but
most people who come here are not going on vacation on the T-heads. They"re going
to the beach. ... We need to get Packery Channel developed, put in some more hotels,
get boats in and out, add a few more nightclubs and maybe a Mexican food place."
 Robert
McCoy,
co-owner, Yin Yang Fandango
"Police have bulldozed these crack houses. Why not put something in its place
and turn that negative into a positive?"
 Karen
Middleton,
associate professor of management, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
"We"re working on an outreach program that will help students get jobs and assist
them in starting businesses."
 Ben
Jacoel,
co-owner, Forever Art
"I think (young people in Corpus Christi) have nothing else to do but drink. I
think it would be a nice thing for the city to use some money they"re getting
from taxes to maybe provide a movie theater with movies about history. What better
way to improve the city"s future than to give (young people) something else to
do?"
 Santiago
Aldape,
owner, Aldape Asphalt
"I like to have people understand that we all need to take responsibility for
ourselves. ... Here in South Texas we enjoy a good life. But it doesn"t come free..."
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George Gongora/Caller-Times
New units at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi will
replace some built in the 1960s. In all, 393 new units and 14 senior officers’
quarters will be built.
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S. Texas military bases grow; leaders work to keep them open
Housing, offices are in Kingsville, Ingleside, Corpus Christi plans
February 1, 2003
By Stephanie L. Jordan
Caller-Times
Sailors of all ranks, including those who fly jets, will notice the changes taking place at bases in South Texas, while at the same time area leaders are fighting to keep all three bases safe from a round of closures authorized by Congress in 2001.
During the next decade and beyond, training jets used at Naval Air Station Kingsville will sport new technology, bases such as Naval Air Station Corpus Christi will have new housing for its personnel and Naval Station Ingleside is getting a new, high-tech ship.
But looming on the horizon are base closures, which some analysts speculate, will affect Texas because of the large number of military bases in the state.
"The president has no later than March 15, 2005, to present nominations to the commission," said Glenn Flood, a Pentagon spokesman. The criteria for the closures and realignments will be made public no later than Feb. 16, 2004.
With 25 percent of the salaries in Kleberg, San Patricio and Nueces counties attributable to defense-related business, South Texas has a lot to lose.
Bases growing
Despite the possibility of closure, area bases are growing, looking for ways to expand and beginning new construction projects such as housing and office complexes.
For sailors at Naval Station Ingleside, an $82.1 million project has started to build more than 500 units of military housing in Aransas Pass and at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, helping end some of the housing problems for some South Texas military families.
At Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, 393 new units will be built and 14 senior officers’ quarters will be renovated.
The new units will replace some built in the 1960s, which will be demolished in stages as the new units are completed. The first group of homes will be available in September. The project will be complete in the spring of 2005.
The new development is a public-private venture in which the Navy invested $29.4 million and Austin-based Landmark Organization - a private company - invested the remaining $52.7 million. Landmark will manage the properties after they are built.
Similar housing is being built near Naval Air Station Kingsville.
New offices are being built at Naval Station Ingleside, which is the newest of the three bases in the Coastal Bend.
The new $12.2 million facility will provide offices for 550 base employees from a variety of commands including Regional Maintenance Center South, Fleet Support Activity and Supervisor of Shipbuilding.
All now are working out of 15 trailers located on the base. The contractors for the project are STC Constructors of Corpus Christi.
The project is scheduled to be complete in February 2004 and was designed to fit in with other structures on the base.
STC will build two buildings, the larger being 53,320 square feet for the offices and another will be 15,600 square feet for a Navy College facility where satellite offices will be set up for sailors taking classes. The building also will have an auditorium and space for base safety personnel.
New technology
Naval Air Station Kingsville hopes to expand its non-Navy tenant numbers and may do so if the Border Patrol, which has a large facility on base, grows.
"Kingsville has massive expansion capabilities," said Jim Rostohar, public affairs officer for the base. "Border Patrol is going to expand, now they have 110 agents, and may expand to 150 in next few years."
New technology will also play a role at Kingsville. During the next decade, jet pilots may get new cockpits that use digital technology in the T-45 Goshawk training jet.
"In the next 10 years hopefully we will be transitioning into the T-45C," Rostohar said. "What that will give us is a training cockpit that is closer to the fleet aircraft for aviators that we train here will fly."
Contact Stephanie L. Jordan at 886-3724 or jordans@caller.com
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