GALVESTON, Texas - The Galveston Park Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to have the storm-damaged pavilion at Seawolf Park demolished as soon as possible.
A hotel, a restaurant or a re-creation of the quarantine station immigrants to the island passed through in the late 19th century eventually could replace the pavilion, which seldom was used.
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Although board members disagreed about what should replace it, no one wanted to save the pavilion.
"Out of disaster comes unforeseen opportunities," Trustee Betty Massey said.
Hurricane Ike ate away the ground under the pavilion, exposing gaping holes beneath its slab. The structure was unsafe, park board Executive Director Lou Muller said.
The board faced the possibility of spending at least $17,000 to install a safety fence around the building. Demolition shouldn't cost much more than that, Muller said.
Once the board determines deed and zoning restrictions on the property, it plans to ask private developers to submit proposals for the type of facility that would fit best with the site's location and its visiting demographic.
Many visitors come to see the park's two restored ships, the USS Cavalla and the USS Stewart, which would be included and respected in any future plans, board members said.
Seawolf Park, on the southeastern edge of Pelican Island, is the only facility managed by the park board that regularly makes money.
Much of its revenue comes from people who pay to fish off its pier, park Manager John McMichael said.
The best thing for the site would be an RV park, something the board has considered in the past, McMichael said.
If the park board builds a hotel next to the fishing pier, all of the fishermen would leave and the board would lose the steady income it gets from admission fees, he said.
But other coastal communities have hotels that cater to people who want to fish, and if the park board built something like that at the site, it could bring in more visitors, Chairwoman Jeri Kinnear said.
Kinnear also advocated a water taxi service that could ferry visitors between Pelican Island and downtown.
Board member Vic Maceo said he wanted to build a museum to the island's immigration history, something the Galveston Historical Foundation had talked about before the storm.
If the board decided to include the museum in its plans, it could probably get some very large grants to help pay for the project, Maceo said.
The board got $500,000 in insurance proceeds for the building's damage, and it expects to get another $500,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make up the difference between the total damage and the insurance settlement.
But $1 million will not be enough to build the kind of facility board members want.
Through a request for proposal process, the board hopes to find a private developer to help build the new building, if it's a hotel or a restaurant, and then lease it from the board.
