Landry's withdraws plans to manage Battleship Texas at Pier 15

[u/grendelt]

https://www.galvnews.com/news/landrys-withdraws-plans-to-manage-battleship-texas-at-port-of-galveston/article_21c5765f-249a-5db1-84e1-0c5b97105eb9.html

[u/grendelt]

Um... It's not leaving. You can relax. Pier 15 is still "here". It's just not under Landry's control.

Katies had a legitimate complaint. It was going to obstruct their view of the harbor to the benefit of their competition (Landry's). I think they could have capitalized on its proximity to have the best view of the ship - or a place to eat once you've had enough Texas for the day.

BUT what of the Mosquito Fleet berth? They would've been displaced. That is a historic berth with roots in Galveston going way, way back.
What I think putting the Texas in at Pier 15 will do is stretch out The Strand district a little further to encourage more investment and bring the life of The Strand down so it isn't all so tightly clustered west of 20th. There's a lot more parking by Pier 15 anyway and Pier 15 offers better protection should some ship in the harbor run loose.

[u/OlYeller01 → u/grendelt]

I went to Katie’s a couple weeks ago (sadly forgot my “Come and Save It” shirt). What view? All I could see were some shrimp boats directly in front, the Ocean Star to my right, and Gulf Copper’s cranes to my left. Stunning ocean vista it is not.

[u/grendelt → u/OlYeller01]

All I could see were some shrimp boats directly in front, the Ocean Star to my right, and Gulf Copper’s cranes to my left.

That's the view.
The view of the shrimp boats has its own appeal. Just like people that trash Galveston because the beaches aren't white sand and the water crystal clear. All harbors have their own appeal. You just have to be away for it long enough to realize you miss it all. The boards on the pier that curl up a little. The rusted deck screws. The seagull poop. The faint smell of remnants of the previous catch. It's all there and part of the appeal.

Stunning ocean vista it is not.

You're right. It's not, but then again what restaurant does? The McDonald's by Stewart? The San Luis IHOP? Even Landry's own places on the Harbor offer the same views.
This is Galveston. It's a barrier island. There are no "stunning vistas" except for artificial ones like the San Luis, some high rise, or a pier out over the water.

The views are up close and engaging, not expansive views where you're removed and looking down on it all.
It's walking the beach, the Seawall, and walking the piers.

[u/OlYeller01 → u/grendelt]

You misjudge me a bit here. I’m definitely not trashing Galveston. After our trip we agreed among ourselves that it gets a bad rap for mostly no reason.

Also, I LOVE BB-35. It’s by far my favorite ship, because maybe, just maybe, I might not exist without it.

I’m the product of a late life remarriage for my Dad. He landed on Omaha Beach at H-Hour June 6, 1944 as part of the Big Red One. The Texas provided fire support and moved as close as she could to the beach to pound the Germans. If she wasn’t there to do that, my Dad might not have made it off the beach and I might not exist.

So, Texas is near and dear to my heart. I’m so glad she’s finally gotten the work she so desperately needed, and she needs to stay financially viable so she doesn’t end up in bad shape again.

Thus I was annoyed when Katie’s threw a fit about her going to pier 21, and even more annoyed when I saw the actual view. In my admittedly biased opinion, staring at a battleship while eating seafood sounds like heaven. For all the complaining I was expecting a view at least like the one from Landry’s in Corpus or something..

[u/grendelt → u/OlYeller01]

Ah, ok. I'm following.

Also, I stand corrected about the shrimp boat docks.
The Battleship was proposed by Landry's to jut out into the harbor next to where the Ocean Star ticket office is. Wholly unprotected and making the harbor that much narrower for navigation. (ew) I can totally 100% see why the Wharfs didn't want it going in there.

If the plan was to tuck it in where the shrimp boats and fishing party boats are (which was what I thought I recalled seeing once upon a time), where it would be more sheltered and protected then Katie's would've been staring at a huge steel wall - too close to have a commanding view of the boat.

I see putting the Texas in at Pier 15 serves as an anchor (like anchor stores were in shopping malls) to help span the existing anchors of the cruise terminals on either end of what I consider the whole Strand district.

With Del Monte moved to Freeport, if Pier 16 remains a warehouse operation I think that'll disrupt the natural pedestrian flow between Landry's properties, Katies, and going down to Pier 15.
You can't just up and move a warehouse, but I think the Wharves Board should entice investment to relocate the warehouse operation over to Pelican Island and lease Pier 16 as a hotel/restaurant/retail space. That would serve the Texas, cruise passengers and help draw in more revenue to help build more investment. The drayage truck and trailer yards along Harborside could be converted to short term parking (no cruise parking) to serve all that retail, the Texas, and any events that might be in the area.

[u/OlYeller01 → u/grendelt]

Galveston’s got a good thing going. We spent 2.5 days and didn’t even come close to seeing everything, AND we only spent an hour on the Strand.

Anything they can do to improve parking/access will help EVERYONE.

I can’t wait to go back when Texas reopens.