1990-05-07 Special Called Meeting

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e e SAN JACINTO BATTLEGROUND STATE PARK This park hosts over one million visitors per year. This is the site of the famous Battle of San Jacinto, where a few Texans soundly defeated the large Mexican army of General Santa Anna, making the Republic of Texas a reality. The park contains the San Jacinto Monument, a 570 foot tall shaft featuring an elevator to the observa- tion area at the top, A fine museum is located in the base of the monument, and a theater is currently under construction. San Jacinto is also the home port for the USS Texas, the only remaining Dreadnaught class battleship, and the only surviving battleship to have fought in two world wars. San Jacinto Battleground State Park is situated within the extra-territorial juris- diction of the City of LaPorte. Its mailing address is LaPorte, and all informa- tion and publicity sent out by the State of Texas gives LaPorte as the location of this popular tourist attraction. We should claim this park as our own, and esta- blish a working relationship between the park and our city. We should take part in promotional activities which would benefit both the park and the city. Another San Jacinto Day celebration took place two weeks ago, with no participation at all from the City of LaPorte. GALVESTON BAY AND SYLVAN PEACH PARK Our greatest natural resource is Galveston Bay, the nearest open water to the City of Houston. It is well suited to all types of boating activities, water sports, and fishing. A boat ramp at Sylvan Beach Park provides free access to the water. Sylvan Beach Park also contains picnic and playground areas as well as the City of LaPorte's Pavilion/Convention Center. Historic Sylvan Beach Depot/Museum provides a link to the past, when Sylvan Beach was a well known playground of the South. Currently being initiated is a Depot Docent, or guide program, which will make this museum more available to the public. NASA AND FUTURE SPACE THEME PARK NASA is already an extremely popular tourist attraction, and will increase in popularity with the completion of the Disney theme park. LaPorte can capture some of the tourist trade moving between NASA and San Jacinto if we provide at- tractive and comfortable facilities for overnight visitors. San Jacinto and NASA are both daytime attractions, but tourists can hardly enjoy both in the same day. We could become the home base for side trips to both, as well as to Houston or Galveston, if we had a small hotel and several bed and breakfast establishments near the waterfront. -2-