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<br />fA <br />~ <br /> <br />Cit" of La Porte Parbs A: Open Space Master Plan <br /> <br />During the war, La Porte had two big shipyards producing vessels with about <br />100,000 employees working shifts and keeping the local economy going. When steel <br />shortages became common, the ships were built out of concrete and reinforcement <br />bars; an example of this type of vessel can still be seen off of Seawolf Park in <br />Galveston. <br />Additionally, in 1943, another big hurricane <br />destroyed the original Pavilion in Sylvan <br />Beach, while in the same year the Tunnel <br />between La Porte and Baytown was opened <br />to traffic. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />~ <br />- <br /> <br />The original Sylvan Beach Pavilion <br /> <br />After this, things started changing in La Porte. <br />After the war and the 1943 hurricane, there was <br />not much money to rebuild the attractions on <br />Sylvan Beach; with the tunnel opened to <br />Baytown, people were more mobile and didn't <br />rely on shops in downtown La Porte anymore; <br />consequently, most of them closed, not being <br />able to keep up with the competition from bigger <br />chain stores outside the city. In 1956, the new <br />Sylvan Beach pavilion finally opened, but it <br /> <br />La Porte Chronicle from 1943 <br /> <br />never regained its popularity again as it was before the war. <br />Another big change for the whole area came with air conditioning in the 1960s; since <br />many Houston residents no longer relied on the cool breeze of their beach houses <br />and stayed home instead of coming to La Porte. <br />The final change from a tourist to an industrial town took place with the opening of <br />NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1961 and the vast expansion of <br />chemical and petrochemical plants in the area around Bayto\Nl1 and La Porte for their <br />vicinity to the Ship Channel. This led to a huge increase of population in the 1970s <br />and 19805. <br />All this led to La Porte partially losing its appeal for potential tourists and gave it a <br />very industrial reputation, which should be changed and can be changed by giving <br />La Porte some more regionally interesting recreation facilities, some beautification in <br />the downtown area and advertising for the already existing parks. <br /> <br />Chapter 2. - La Porte Tocla" <br /> <br />Page 3 <br />