THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • March/April 2018 37 TheCoastalBend.com how the Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 originally called for the elimination of a federal income tax credit equal to 20% of the restoration cost of an officially recognized historical building. This credit has played a vital role in the restoration of qualifying structures located in aged downtown areas in need of revival—and it has worked in hundreds of cities and towns across the U.S. since its inception. Nueces County Commissioner Mike Pusley was quoted as saying that the 1914 courthouse project “was on life support for a few weeks” while the issue of the tax credit was being explored, but that it had been saved and was put back into the bill. Rep. Farenthold took credit for saving the tax break, saying, “[The 1914 courthouse] has been an eyesore downtown for a long time, and I’m glad we were able to do a little something to keep it on track...the fact that we were able to keep in this one historic thing that was kind of a specialty item is just a good win for the region.” While it is true that the Republican tax bill did not entirely eliminate the tax credit for restoring histori- cal buildings, the whole truth is that the credit is now spread out over five years in equal portions per year, according to the Chicago Tribune. In a search of Texas Secretary of State public re- cords, we found that Nueces County Development Part- ners, LLC, the company that signed the purchase agree- ment for the courthouse last April, had its corporate charter forfeited on January 26, 2018, apparently for failing to pay its annual Texas franchise tax, as its sta- tus with the state comptroller’s office is, “franchise tax involuntarily ended.” When this editor considers that two of three calls to prospective developers for this story were returned, and the one that was not was to the courthouse devel- opers, sadly, we find it safe to declare this project dead. To date, there has been no public announcement to this regard from retiring Commissioner Pusley, Judge Neal (who, in fairness, was away with a serious illness), Rep. Farenthold, or any of the development partners. Additionally, we cannot find, and have not heard, a sin- gle story in other local news media on the topic since the would-be buyers’ company was involuntarily dis- solved by the State of Texas on January 26. Welcome to Corpus Christi folks! The old courthouse is the largest and most promi- nent structure located along the route of the current Harbor Bridge, and its protected status as a historical building means that it cannot be demolished until 2027. Unless we are to entirely ignore this soon-to-be, highly visible section of town, the 1914 courthouse must be dealt with. A somewhat more serious idea for the va- cated bridge property on the city side of the channel, in what is designated the Sports, Entertainment and Arts (SEA) District, has been presented by local attorney Greg Perkes, whose management firm is called Perkes Works, and who has assembled a development team that includes professional visitor experience designers. Their vision for SEAtown is basically the San Anto- nio Riverwalk on Corpus Christi Bay, where the “river” would be a new saltwater canal that follows the old bridge route from the southern bank of the ship chan- nel, between the Solomon P. Ortiz Center and the Mu- seum of Science and History, to more or less, where the old courthouse is located. Hotels, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues would line both sides of the canal, which would serve as a navigable waterway for bay-worthy boats and ferries. Of the ideas that are out there, this one makes a ton of sense, considering the proposed canal’s close proximity to the American Bank Center, the museums, the Ortiz Center, Whataburger Field, Hurricane Alley water park, and Concrete Street Amphitheater. If such a district were to be developed, it’s easy to imagine SEAtown evolving into another new icon of the city, along with the new Harbor Bridge. However, while the SEAtown team is populated with highly experienced and successful development professionals—their resumes include work for Disney, Universal Theme Parks, Spaceport America, NASA, Car- nival Cruise Lines, and other big names—their capacity to manage a project of such size and scale, or to finance its management, is not established. At least not yet. The logistical and regulatory scope of the SEAtown canal construction is staggering. The project would re- quire a full buy-in by the Port of Corpus Christi, which owns and operates the land embanking the ship chan- nel, the operation of which would be significantly