SAN BENITO — For decades, rows of empty storefronts have lined Sam Houston Boulevard, the heart of the city’s downtown.
Mayor Celeste Sanchez says it’s time to push a revival of the area, once the commercial hub of northern Cameron County.
“The community remembers when downtown was a thriving area. We want to bring that back,” Sanchez said Tuesday. “The downtown is our living room. We want downtown to be clean, beautiful, inviting, comfortable, with shops you don’t find at the mall, where people come and spend time.”
Now, the city is looking for a manager to lead that drive to a downtown transformation.
The main street coordinator will be charged with helping the city implement its new Downtown Revitalization Plan.
“The person would work with businesses downtown and improve the facades,” Sanchez said.
The job will pay $30,000 to $40,000, depending on experience.
“General responsibilities of the coordinator include planning, directing and managing the city’s downtown development, redevelopment and business assistance activities,” city spokeswoman Martha McClain wrote in a statement.
Officials such as Lionel Betancourt, president of the San Benito Chamber of Commerce, recalled the city’s heyday from the 1930s to the 1950s, when San Benito’s bustling downtown drew shoppers from across the region.
“The key would be to bring it back to life — to bring the buildings back to their original appearance and bring businesses back to the area,” Betancourt said.
Businessman David Perez called the search for a downtown manager “a step in the right direction.”
“The more attractive the area becomes, the more businesses will be attracted,” said Perez, owner of Liberty Income Tax Service. “That will improve the traffic count. Now, the area really has no appeal if someone’s walking down downtown San Benito.”
Perez said the key to revitalizing the area lies with its property owners and merchants.
“You’ve got to get people working together,” Perez said.
Sanchez said the city’s new revitalization plan calls for a five-year program aimed at changing the face of downtown San Benito.
The plan calls for the creation of a steering committee “to clearly identify and delineate new areas of growth and development.”
“Revitalizing downtown San Benito will require a concerted effort of public and private stakeholders who are interested in both economic growth and community building — each are important to the short- and long-term success of any revitalization efforts,” McClain wrote in her statement.
Perez suggested the city offer incentives to help property owners and merchants revamp their store fronts.
In 2012, the city’s Economic Development Corporation loaned Perez $40,000 to renovate his storefront at 251 N. Sam Houston Blvd.
“It’s the nicest building downtown,” Perez said with a chuckle.
