Feels like a sucker-punch



 

 

Seeing iconic buildings in Port Aransas go under the wrecking ball is gut-wrenching .

With each one, it’s as though a member of the family has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, suffers terribly, dies and is buried.

It hurts. It means change for which we were not prepared.

We assumed they would always be there, connecting us to the past and insuring our future would have a solid foundation.

Hurricane Harvey changed all that, clarifying the cold, hard fact that change is inevitable, that no one, no building, no town is exempt.

Perhaps more unsettling is the unknown: What will replace these iconic landmarks?

Even before Harvey struck, some of the buildings going up were, and are, viewed as out of character with our funky little fishing village because of their size and height, overshadowing the more traditional homes and businesses that have nestled contentedly together for decades. That comfortable alliance is what makes Port Aransas what it is – or was.

On an almost daily basis, where once there were homes and businesses, gaping holes in the landscape take their place. Seeing each new rubble-strewn parcel is like a sucker-punch.

And when you catch your breath, your first thought is: What will take its place?

And so it is refreshing to read what Deven Bhakta says about what will take the place of two high-profile, iconic Port Aransas buildings: Rock Cottages and A Laughing Horse Lodge. Bhakta is quoted by news editor Dan Parker in a story about the buildings that appears on the front page of this edition.

Bhakta is a hotelier and chairman of the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce and Tourist Bureau. He has been in business here for more than two decades.

CEO of ZJZ Hospitality Inc., he and his partner bought the two buildings “very mindfully,” knowing that outside developers would jump on the prime pieces of property, and because “I did not want the integrity of the area compromised,” he told Parker.

Bhakta said they don’t have a specific plan for the properties yet, but that they intend to possibly use stone salvaged from the Rock Cottages and to incorporate some of the colors from A Laughing Horse Lodge in whatever takes their place.

Reassuring is Bhakta’s stated commitment to and passion for, Port Aransas, and his pledge to “bring the most positive impact, both economically and in reputation, to our city.”

We share that commitment and passion, and we’ll keep a close eye on Bhakta’s plans for the property that still holds treasured memories for generations of Port Aransas residents and visitors.

It’s a matter of respecting our past, and it’s crucial to our future.

Mary Henkel Judson is editor and co-publisher of the South Jetty. Contact her at editor@portasouthjetty.com, (361) 749-5131 or P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.

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