By: Jillian Becquet Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of the John Fred’k ‘Doc’ McGregor Collection at the Corpus ChristibrMuseum of Science and History.
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When the City BeautifulbrMovement took hold in America at the turn of the 20th century, several majorbrdevelopments in Corpus Christi had just failed amid the economic crash of thebr1890s. The movement made its way to Corpus Christi’s Mayor, Roy Miller, whobrsought to enrich the city with beautification projects. Miller’s vision came to life with thebrsupport of community property owners and voters. Whatbrcame to be known as the Broadway Bluff Improvement took an erosion-prone bluffbrfrom unattractive to a distinctive border between two sections of the businessbrdistrict, uptown and downtown.
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Supported by voters viabrbond, the improvements included the commission of Corpus Christi’s first piecebrof public art, the sculpture Queen of the Sea by Pompeo Coppini, completedbrin 1914. The bluff was also graded, and retaining walls were builtbrbetween Upper and Lower Broadway. Walkability of thebrarea was improved with staircases and balustrades, as well as the pedestrianbrtunnel, opened in 1929, that reaches between Peoplesbrand Schatzel and Upper Broadway.
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Nearly 100 years later,brthese improvements all still stand today. The tunnelbropens only for special occasions, like this year’s inaugural Frontera festivalbrNovember 2-4. The other improvements can be enjoyed every day we visit the area, thanks to Mayor Roy Miller’sbrdedication to making our city beautiful.
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