Something to gawk about
What would it take to make Waller County a tourist destination?
Or maybe the better question is, do we want Waller County to become a tourist destination?
I’ve been giving the recent economic crisis a lot of thought. This area has been hit pretty hard; though not nearly as hard as other parts of the country. Still, there are some things that could be done that would bring an economic windfall to our little county. There are two ways of doing that.
The first is to lure some company here that manufactures a product – something on a large scale. But we lack the infrastructure to support anything with high energy and water demands. The next option is to create something that gives people a reason to come here. If you think about it, people flock to see three things: natural wonders, manmade wonders and historical sites.
How many of you at some point in time have seen or wanted to see the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park or the beaches of Hawaii? Obviously Waller County cannot offer anything of that kind of splendor, so a natural attraction is out of the question.
In order to lure history buffs, we need a site of significant historical interest. While we do have Camp Groce, it is just one of numerous Civil War prison camps and by itself is hardly a reason to come here. This area lacks the attraction that Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, the Alamo, or even Johnson Space Center have to offer.
That leaves us with something manmade. People will travel far to see and experience something unique, like Mount Rushmore, the St. Louis Arch, the Statue of Liberty or a Disney theme park.
Just watch Tomball, for example. Entrepreneurs there are creating a Western-themed park called Grand Texas. Let the tourism dollars flow! With that will come support industries, such as restaurants, convenience stores and hotels.
Why can’t we do that here? Why can’t we build something big and unique that people will absolutely have to come and see? I mean, who would have thought that something like the St. Louis Arch would become a national symbol?
Just thinking off the top of my head, what if we built the world’s largest letters or word? What if we built a building out of the word “Texas” with the top of the “T” many stories high (20 to 50)? Inside this word would be a kind of mall and/or museum featuring all things Texas. Restaurants, curio shops, theaters and even a small theme park could be found inside. And it would give Texans another big thing to boast about. People would pay good money to view the world from the top of Texas. It would put other notable signs to shame, such as the famed Hollywood sign.
OK, so that idea may be a little far-fetched, but so was sticking the noses of 10 Cadillacs into the ground like Stanley Marsh 3 did in Amarillo. That little roadside attraction draws thousands of people each year.
That could be us, assuming that’s something we want. Or maybe we like Waller County the way it is, a bedroom community to Houston. Suffice to say, Waller County is not going to stay the same. This is the time the movers and shakers of the county need to be thinking about the future and what we want it to be.
Do we take control of our own destiny and create something significant or do we take a reactionary position and work with whatever happens to come this way? Maybe we want to think about preserving our agricultural heritage and creating permanent zones where no development can take place. It’s never too soon to be thinking about these things. You can be sure that if we don’t think about them, some big, out-of-town developer will be deciding for us what the future of Waller County will be. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?
Fun at the fair
I’m a nut for fairs and festivals. It’s ironic because I hate crowds, but there is something about a good old county fair that gets me excited. I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time at the Waller County Fair as I wanted to, but I really enjoyed what I did get to see.
Kudos to everyone who participated, especially the members of the fair association who work diligently year-round to make the fair the best it can be. It’s too bad the weather didn’t cooperate at the end when all the big-ticket events were happening. I know that hurt attendance and income. But it was still a good time for all those who attended.
Or maybe the better question is, do we want Waller County to become a tourist destination?
I’ve been giving the recent economic crisis a lot of thought. This area has been hit pretty hard; though not nearly as hard as other parts of the country. Still, there are some things that could be done that would bring an economic windfall to our little county. There are two ways of doing that.
The first is to lure some company here that manufactures a product – something on a large scale. But we lack the infrastructure to support anything with high energy and water demands. The next option is to create something that gives people a reason to come here. If you think about it, people flock to see three things: natural wonders, manmade wonders and historical sites.
How many of you at some point in time have seen or wanted to see the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park or the beaches of Hawaii? Obviously Waller County cannot offer anything of that kind of splendor, so a natural attraction is out of the question.
In order to lure history buffs, we need a site of significant historical interest. While we do have Camp Groce, it is just one of numerous Civil War prison camps and by itself is hardly a reason to come here. This area lacks the attraction that Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, the Alamo, or even Johnson Space Center have to offer.
That leaves us with something manmade. People will travel far to see and experience something unique, like Mount Rushmore, the St. Louis Arch, the Statue of Liberty or a Disney theme park.
Just watch Tomball, for example. Entrepreneurs there are creating a Western-themed park called Grand Texas. Let the tourism dollars flow! With that will come support industries, such as restaurants, convenience stores and hotels.
Why can’t we do that here? Why can’t we build something big and unique that people will absolutely have to come and see? I mean, who would have thought that something like the St. Louis Arch would become a national symbol?
Just thinking off the top of my head, what if we built the world’s largest letters or word? What if we built a building out of the word “Texas” with the top of the “T” many stories high (20 to 50)? Inside this word would be a kind of mall and/or museum featuring all things Texas. Restaurants, curio shops, theaters and even a small theme park could be found inside. And it would give Texans another big thing to boast about. People would pay good money to view the world from the top of Texas. It would put other notable signs to shame, such as the famed Hollywood sign.
OK, so that idea may be a little far-fetched, but so was sticking the noses of 10 Cadillacs into the ground like Stanley Marsh 3 did in Amarillo. That little roadside attraction draws thousands of people each year.
That could be us, assuming that’s something we want. Or maybe we like Waller County the way it is, a bedroom community to Houston. Suffice to say, Waller County is not going to stay the same. This is the time the movers and shakers of the county need to be thinking about the future and what we want it to be.
Do we take control of our own destiny and create something significant or do we take a reactionary position and work with whatever happens to come this way? Maybe we want to think about preserving our agricultural heritage and creating permanent zones where no development can take place. It’s never too soon to be thinking about these things. You can be sure that if we don’t think about them, some big, out-of-town developer will be deciding for us what the future of Waller County will be. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?
Fun at the fair
I’m a nut for fairs and festivals. It’s ironic because I hate crowds, but there is something about a good old county fair that gets me excited. I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time at the Waller County Fair as I wanted to, but I really enjoyed what I did get to see.
Kudos to everyone who participated, especially the members of the fair association who work diligently year-round to make the fair the best it can be. It’s too bad the weather didn’t cooperate at the end when all the big-ticket events were happening. I know that hurt attendance and income. But it was still a good time for all those who attended.
posted by Joe Southern | 11:55 AM
1 Comments:
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"Hi-Yo-Silver!Away!"
Sarah Brown
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