By Steve Dewire, general manager Hyatt Lost Pines

On behalf of the Hyatt Lost Pines, we are very excited about the recent award given to the City of Bastrop as a Distinctive Destination through the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
This honor is the product of many individual and collective efforts that maintain and grow the historic aspects of the community in an appropriate balance with the inevitable process of modernization. A special thanks goes to Nancy Wood as the program’s director and her efforts to successfully nominate the city.
Other important historical and cultural organizations are working together with Main Street businesses to support preservation, economic development and re-development, offer special events, programs, services and products that attract new and returning visitors to our area.
The character of our community is expressed in the continued focus on Main Street and the historic locations throughout downtown.
From the business owner’s perspective, we value your energy, time, talents and retail offerings. It is always a challenge to keep your priorities balanced, especially with the myriad of considerations that you have at any given time.
We look forward to having more resort guests in both the leisure and group markets enjoy the events, activities and retail shops downtown.
We have also been able to successfully book a future group event that will actually use a segment of Main Street as one of their event venues for this large program. We sincerely hope that this will set a template for more that will follow.
The quality and design of the local events throughout each year has been both a reflection of the community and the collective efforts to draw visitors who will enjoy their experiences. The amount of time, enthusiasm and commitment that this organizational process takes cannot be underestimated. It also focuses on the cooperation between different organizations to bring out the best in each event.
One of the impressive aspects of the events is the high level of volunteer support, and the special dedication that each person shows in achieving and maintaining the Main Street designation.
Two years ago, Bastrop had the unique opportunity to host Main Street managers from across Texas. They left both thankful and impressed by what they experienced and they were able to clearly feel the emotional thread of commitment to the Program. Additionally, they also brought ideas and feedback from their communities that can be applied here as well.
Later this year, the Hyatt will celebrate our fourth anniversary since opening in 2006. Although just west of the city proper, we sincerely see ourselves as community members who assist in carrying the Bastrop name, as we reach out to state, and national business markets.
The resort is the culmination of a development process that spanned several years, and we are honored to be a part of the Bastrop and Cedar Creek communities and adjacent to the McKinney Roughs Nature Preserve. In the coming year, Lost Pines will host over 162,000 guests separate from all of the various catered and golfing events.
The city and county of Bastrop, BEDC, the chamber, McKinney Roughs, the Main Street Program, DBA and other organizations have been a driving factor in making this project possible and or assisting with our initial growth. We are grateful for that forward vision, and look forward to helping the growth of the new convention center as it comes on line.
The investment in maintaining Bastrop’s historical heritage is clearly worth all of the effort that is being directed to it and we will continue to lend our support and commitment.
Congratulations to all for the designation that the city has achieved and our best wishes for the good things that the future will bring.