Here's what to know about the grand celebration for the reopening of the Watergarden
One of Corpus Christi’s most scenic bayfront landscapes will be revived this week nearly seven years after it fell dark.
The city’s Watergarden – the fountain centerpiece that anchors the surrounding Art Museum of South Texas, Harbor Playhouse, and the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History – will make its grand reopening Wednesday with a showcase of new lights and water designs.
The revamp is a multimillion-dollar effort to repair and improve the popular attraction after it sustained significant flood damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.
Located at 1901 N. Shoreline Blvd., it was dedicated in 1988.
To restore the fountain’s water flow and illumination, the City Council in May 2023 set aside an estimated $9.1 million in sales tax revenue.
Bringing the splashy structure back online will include a celebration open at no cost to the public at 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to a city news release.
What is described on the city’s website as an “architectural animation” YouTube video illustrates a series of changing LED light shades lining its furthest edges.
Among the planned features of the Wednesday event will be a “Turning the Switch” ceremony, art activities, a mariachi performance, no-cost food and beverages, as well as an honor guard “performing during a moment of silence in memory of Officer Kyle Hicks,” wrote city spokeswoman Chloe Swan Rybalka in an email to the Caller-Times.
Hicks was shot and killed while on duty last week.
Parking will be available at the American Bank Center, 1701 N. Chaparral St.; the Museum of Asian Cultures, 1802 N. Chaparral St.; and the Museum of Science and History, 1900 N. Chaparral St., according to a city-issues news release.
The event will be livestreamed on the city’s Facebook page, @citygov, and on its YouTube channel, CCTVCorpusChristi, the email shows.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi's Watergarden will soon be back. Here's what to know