Jensen withdraws opposition to new Mercer House location
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

After impassioned pleas from 11 residents, City Councilman Bubba Jensen agreed on Thursday, Oct. 18, not to oppose moving the historic Mercer House from Oleander and Roberts streets to a proposed new home next to the Community Center on Alister Street.

But proponents of the move, who spoke at the beginning of the Oct. 18 city council meeting, had to wait through more than four hours of other business before hearing Jensen concede.

The appeals were made during the public comment section of the meeting, which is near the beginning. Jensen's speech was fourth from the bottom of the 38-item agenda.

Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association (PAPHA) board member Betty Bundy led the parade, telling the council that, "foresee that in the future you will see this as your biggest contribution of the 21st century. I beg you not to turn back."

"Port Aransas means different things to different people," said Mark Creighton. "They are all interconnected. Reef Inc. The plan is to be able to have exhibits that will catch people's interest and teach them where we came from and how we want to get where we want to go."

"To move the Mercer building some other place would put it in a position where the things we want to do wouldn't be obvious to people who just come in," Creighton added.

Marcy Matthews Ward Thomas, who described herself as a longtime friend of the Mercer family, said she's behind the proposed Mercer House move.

"I really want to see it sitting beside the Community Center; I think it will be a wonderful addition to the community and a tourist attraction," she said.

PAPHA treasurer Sharon Stricker told the council that the organization had 50 members last year; this year, she said, it has 395. She attributed that to interest in Port Aransas' history.

"Every time the South Jetty does a story, money comes in," Stricker said. "We've gotten calls from folks, asking how are you doing, and what can we do to help? Grant requests and donations are based on being next to the Community Center and I don't know what would happen if that weren't the case."

Former Port Aransas Mayor Pro- Tem Mark Grosse said he once worked at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, learning there what kind of interactive experience a good museum can be.

"I buy into the whole deal," Grosse said. "I think it's a good idea to preserve it, I think it's a good idea for a museum and I think it should go downtown."

Jensen said he originally opposed spending money on the Mercer house because the city seems to be constantly taking on new projects and not finishing old ones.

He said he was reminded that when the house was originally built, it was sitting "in the middle of nowhere," and that got him thinking about a possible site in or near the proposed nature preserve.

"I thought about the nature preserve and how well that house would fit," he said. "Not today, because we're not developed out there, but in a few years, I thought it would look good.

"Then I found out sitting here (on the council dais), just because you feel one way … the e-mails I got, I know the direction you want to go. You want to see that house there. I think it's going to be crowded and crowd the most important building we have (the Community Center).

"If the Mercer House is going to be placed there … I know what your concern is, why you're here, and I'm not going to push to change that tonight."

Councilman Keith McMullin agreed with Jensen about the number of people in favor of putting the Mercer House next to the Community Center. McMullin said he'd gotten 36 e-mails in two days, though he said not all of them were about the Mercer House.

Councilman Charles Bujan said he read all his e-mails and talked to several people on the phone, but came away with the conclusion that they suspected a movement in the council to quash the building relocation.

"Just because an item is added onto an agenda, it doesn't mean there's some sinister plot to squash the project," Bujan said. "Any person on this council has the right to add an item to the agenda. I may not agree, because I believe (the Mercer House) is going to