A nearly $100 million plan to expand an event venue at one of the most popular tourist destinations in Texas that has been delayed for more than a year is continuing to spark controversy among local leaders and longtime residents.
Last year, officials on South Padre Island temporarily shelved a plan with a nine-figure price tag to expand the South Padre Island Convention Centre after the public learned the project would likely involve the destruction of a native forest habitat located behind the building. For decades, the habitat has served as a crucial waypoint for birds during seasonal migrations, and, as a result, a major driver of ecotourism. The potential habitat destruction also drew opposition from Cameron County, which owns the park land on which the city-operated convention center sits.
The entrance to a birding and wildlife viewing site at the rear of the South Padre Island Convention Centre are seen on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Dina Arévalo)
But when the South Padre Island City Council began to discuss the project anew over the last few months, it once again kicked off controversy despite assurances that the rare native habitat was safe. Now, public meetings in the once close-knit community have become acrimonious affairs over the perception that officials are not being transparent about costs, and whether or not the small tourist town has the capacity to support the venue’s expansion.
At a June 17 meeting, the project’s designer, Broaddus & Associates, presented three new expansion options that would cost between $86 million and $92 million, depending on varying combinations of amenities, including a larger exhibit hall, a ballroom and meeting rooms. The city expects to pay for the expansion via a combination of voter-approved venue tax revenues and loans. Officials are also mulling an idea to build a second convention center as part of a public-private partnership that would include a hotel and marina on the southern end of the Island.
The Wyland Whaling Wall and main convention center space are seen at the South Padre Island Convention Centre on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Dina Arévalo)
But Councilwoman Aarin Hartwell, who was elected as a political newcomer last December, has pushed back on the seemingly vague dollar figures the council has spent the last six months discussing. During a workshop earlier this month, Hartwell pressed for data that could show what kinds of returns on investment the three expansion options could generate and how much more the revamped venue would cost to maintain.
“We need to know up front… before we have a GMP (guaranteed maximum price) on any of these options,” Hartwell said.
But others on the council, including Mayor Patrick McNulty, say that the convention center, which was built in 1992, is not only long overdue for an upgrade but also too small to meet the Island’s present-day needs.
Mangroves hug the shores of the Laguna Madre, a hypersaline lagoon that separates South Padre Island from the rest of Texas. In the background, the rear of the South Padre Island Convention Centre can be seen on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Dina Arévalo)
“That’s one of our biggest problems is that there’s many events that are there that are bigger than we can handle,” McNulty said during a meeting in March.
At the time, the council was hearing about the Texas International Fishing Tournament, a bay and offshore fishing tournament that draws more than a thousand anglers from across the country and is one of the biggest events of the year. Event organizers said they’ve had to limit attendance during certain portions of the three-day-long tourney because “we can’t fit anymore people in the convention center.”
This article originally published at A nearly $100M plan is dividing this popular Texas coastal city.