Hillcrest 'awakening' event aims to rally, inform residents on coming projects

Northside residents and advocates gathered in the Brooks AME Worship Center parking lot on Saturday with two goals: to spread the word about recent developments in the waning Hillcrest and Washington-Coles neighborhoods and to send a message to local officials.

"We're not gone. We're not dead. We're still here," said Lamont Taylor, 70, a founding member of the Hillcrest Residents Association, which hosted the event. "There are people that live in Hillcrest, and we all have wants, dreams and aspirations just like everybody else in the city of Corpus Christi."

The "neighborhood awakening" event was held to inform residents of a number of projects — both ongoing and proposed — that stand to affect the majority Black neighborhoods. Though the air was hot and stuffy, an occasional breeze carried the scent of freshly grilled hotdogs and hamburgers through the crowd of more than 30 people, including Hillcrest residents, environmental advocates and two freshman Corpus Christi councilmembers.

During the event, Taylor discussed the latest with Port of Corpus Christi-backed legislation working its way through the Texas Legislature, the city's proposed water treatment facility near the northwestern corner of the neighborhood and recently unveiled proposals for promised park developments as part of the new Harbor Bridge construction.

The event comes as the Hillcrest and Washington-Coles neighborhoods have been largely hollowed out by a voluntary relocation program meant to lessen the effects of the nearby Harbor Bridge replacement project. The port-run relocation program and other efforts have left approximately 100 households — down from 500 in 2015 — in the area, according to a city estimate last year.

Some attendees discussed their concern that local governmental entities could cite the neighborhood's smaller numbers as a rationale to remove residents with eminent domain, a legal process by which the government could take private property for public use. Last month, both the city and port said their respective entities had not yet considered eminent domain for the Northside neighborhoods.

The event was, in part, a response to recent comments to the media by City Manager Peter Zanoni about the state of the neighborhood, said Claudia Rush, interim pastor at the Brooks AME Worship Center. Last month, citing the state of Hillcrest, Zanoni told the Caller-Times that the neighborhood's future was unclear. "I would submit that the issue of a viable neighborhood is a challenge," he said then.

Rush, who has been a pastor at the North Port Avenue church for almost 25 years, said the event was meant to "remind the city we exist." Rush, 67, has served as the head interim pastor at the worship center since the death of Rev. Adam Carrington in January.

Kyle Pelichet, though he had attended similar meetings since moving to Hillcrest more than 10 years ago, said he came to Saturday's event to learn about the city's proposed marine desalination facility. The issue of whether Hillcrest was a viable neighborhood should not be in doubt, he said.

"As long as there are residents, it is always going to be a neighborhood in my eyes," Pelichet, 50, said. "A group of residents in any particular area should constitute a neighborhood."

The city's desalination proposal, as a result of an administrative complaint by Hillcrest residents, has been the subject of a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last month, in a letter to all parties, HUD officials projected the investigation would be completed by Aug. 31, though that date is subject to change.

Dig deeper: EPA to defer to HUD investigation of complaint against city's Northside desalination plans

City officials have contended the placement of the plant would not be discriminatory against neighborhood residents. The operations at the plant — which officials have said is needed to bolster the city's limited water supply — would be minimally invasive, officials have said.

Taylor, who was elected chairman of the Harbor Bridge Community Advisory Board earlier this year, also updated the group about the latest with the prolonged, nearly $1 billion bridge project. In April, the Texas Department of Transportation and the bridge developer, Flatiron/Dragados, reached agreed-upon solutions to design disputes that halted construction on the main span last summer.

The group also heard about changes coming to area parks. The bridge project came with promises to develop the Northside's T.C. Ayers and H.J. Williams parks and a site where Booker T. Washington Elementary once stood.

In February, lawyers with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid sent a complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation, claiming TxDOT had failed to make improvements the state agency promised more than eight years ago. TxDOT has delegated the park development to the city.

More than $6 million has been set aside from a 2014 bond and Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization funds for the improvements, the city manager, Zanoni, has said, though the proposals lack full funding. The city is requesting feedback on the proposals, and Taylor said a committee was being formed to gather and issue recommendations to the city.

Residents in and outside of Hillcrest have weighed in on the park proposals.

During a May 15 town hall meeting on the proposal, Alfred Williams Sr., who said he has been going to Brooks AME Worship Center for more than five decades, told the Caller-Times he was surprised the city had not incorporated a swimming pool to replace the one once at T.C. Ayers Park.

"I would like to see another pool put in for our children. Even though I didn't live in Hillcrest, my kids would go to the swimming pool," Williams, 77, said. "(The city) should at least replace what they take away. You shouldn't have to ask about that. That should automatically be done."

The city has said the pool was filled in and removed due to its proximity to the new bridge.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Hillcrest event seeks to inform community about ongoing projects