By Mayor Terry Orr

An outstanding opportunity for the City of Bastrop to build on past successes is the chance to transform that portion of Chestnut Street between Hwy. 95 and Main Street. This part of Bastrop extending from the sites of the new city hall and convention center to the downtown area has the potential to become an important, economically vibrant, blend of office buildings, restaurants, hotels and retail shops that will be a great asset to this city. This commercial corridor is encompassed within and is the east-west center axis of the city’s Main Street Program focus area.
Bastrop’s Main Street Program has been a remarkable success since its inception three years ago. In no small part, this success has been the result of the Main Street board and manager serving as a catalyst to concentrate the efforts of many organizations that strive and work to make Bastrop a better place to visit, work and live. Attention, to date, has centered on the two blocks of Main Street that, for the most part, are recognized as the center of Bastrop’s downtown business district.
As the Main Street Program goes forward, both it and the Historic Landmark Commission’s Design Committee have already begun to look at the potential for the Chestnut corridor, taking on the challenges of blending the historic aspects of our town with the new development that Bastrop will inevitably face during the next decade. I will be looking to important City of Bastrop entities – the Historic Landmark Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission, the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation and the Main Street Program – to work together leading the way in developing a pattern for economic vitality that takes full advantage of the initiatives and vision of other organizations such as the Downtown Business Alliance and chamber of commerce.
As the pedestrian walkways, historic medallions and underground utility improvements along Chestnut Street are completed and the city hall and the convention center come into operation, we will experience a unique opportunity to attract the private capital and investment necessary to guide development of this important commercial corridor within the Main Street Program. We must live into the future, for the future is now.