Special to El Rrun-Rrun
A soft opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Cameron County Parks Amphitheater located at Isla Blanca Park will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, at 53550 Dolphin Cove on South Padre Island.
The SpaceX Boca Chica launch site was originally intended as a commercial spaceport, though the company’s plans for Boca Chica have "evolved." Now Boca Chica is being used for testing and development of SpaceX’s next-generation, Mars-bound spacecraft, “Starship.
Originally, the company said it would schedule 12 launches a year - once a month - of commercial satellites. Now, the company says it has no plans to launch any satellites from the first vertical commercial launch site.
Based on those promises, the Cameron County Commissioners Court spent $2.1 million for the construction of its new Amphitheater located at Isla Blanca Park. At the time SpaceX advocates projected that millions of dollars would be spent by tourists coming to watch the monthly launches.
The funding for the facility was made possible through the County Hotel-Motel venue tax which voters approved in 2016. But now, because of the "evolution" of the SpaceX mission at Boca Chica, the amphitheater will redirect its efforts to bring music concerts and other events to fill the void.
Sublime with Rome will be the first concert held Oct. 12th, 2019. A Tejano flavored concert follows November 9 with the Tejano Veterans Show featuring La Mafia, Los Palominos, Jaime De Anda and Tina Mares.
The SpaceX Boca Chica launch site was originally intended as a commercial spaceport, though the company’s plans for Boca Chica have "evolved." Now Boca Chica is being used for testing and development of SpaceX’s next-generation, Mars-bound spacecraft, “Starship.
Originally, the company said it would schedule 12 launches a year - once a month - of commercial satellites. Now, the company says it has no plans to launch any satellites from the first vertical commercial launch site.
Based on those promises, the Cameron County Commissioners Court spent $2.1 million for the construction of its new Amphitheater located at Isla Blanca Park. At the time SpaceX advocates projected that millions of dollars would be spent by tourists coming to watch the monthly launches.
The funding for the facility was made possible through the County Hotel-Motel venue tax which voters approved in 2016. But now, because of the "evolution" of the SpaceX mission at Boca Chica, the amphitheater will redirect its efforts to bring music concerts and other events to fill the void.
Sublime with Rome will be the first concert held Oct. 12th, 2019. A Tejano flavored concert follows November 9 with the Tejano Veterans Show featuring La Mafia, Los Palominos, Jaime De Anda and Tina Mares.
But even now with the "evolution" of SpaceX, it's hard to let go of the hard sell that was put on local elected officials to approve tax abatements to bring billionaire Elon Musk's operations to Boca Chica.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Sofia C. Benavides stated that: “The development of the Amphitheater will bring economic opportunities to South Padre Island. The view of the SpaceX launches will be spectacular from the Amphitheater. I’m looking forward to seeing the public enjoy this facility."