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Big Spring hopes new 'Reunion Plaza' will attract visitors

The project is meant to be an attraction spot and outdoor venue for everything from music to private events.

BIG SPRING, Texas — Making downtown Big Spring a hot spot has been in the works for years.

A few years ago, the renovation of the Settles Hotel allowed for people to look at the city as an attraction.

Now the city and the people behind the hotel are in the works of a new plaza or "reunion park."

The project is estimated to cost about $4 million and is meant to be an attraction spot and outdoor venue for everything from concerts to private events.

NewsWest 9 spoke with Shannon Thomason, the Mayor of Big Spring. He said its a big project not only for the hotel but the city as a whole.

"It's a partnership between the city and Caprock Development, which is the one of the companies owned by Brint Ryan, who developed the Settles Hotel," said Thomason. "Long story short, this project is to bring a central plaza to Downtown Big Spring."

Mayor Thomason hopes the events that happen in the new park attract people to the businesses around the area.

"The more visitors we can attract to Big Spring, the better off it is for the businesses," said Thomason. "Restaurants, gas stations and bars will benefit. It's an exciting time to be in Downtown Big Spring."

The idea of revitalizing downtown was kept in mind in the last city council meeting as a way to fund downtown projects was passed.

"In our last city council meeting we passed a new tax increment reinvestment zone for the downtown area," said Thomason. "We are actually going to start taking the property tax that is generated by downtown and the new values then reinvest those back into the downtown area."

Right now, Mayor Thomason said there is no set start date for the project, but he hopes it will be in the next few months to come.

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