The dedication of Vallent Hall, Corpus Christi, March 2, 2018

On March 2, 2018, I was pleased to participate in the Dedication Ceremony of the new U.S. Coast Guard West Gulf Sector Regional HQ Building and Air Station. This ceremony was the culmination of a five year public/private partnership project undertaken by our joint venture of Lynxs Group/FD Stonewater, and the City of Corpus Christi, to provide the Coast Guard and its affiliated government agencies with a new operational home for the West Gulf of Mexico Sector.

The facilities, consisting of offices, training facilities, air rescue, and an aviation hangar to accommodate the Coast Guard’s newest fixed wing and rotary aircraft, was built to spec at Corpus Christi International Airport, replacing the venerable but obsolete facilities the Coast Guard had occupied at Naval Station Corpus Christi for many decades. The dedication ceremony, lead by Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, announced the naming of the building, Valent Hall, as a tribute to Chief Boatswain Pablo Valent, a native of Corpus Christi, who lead a successful rescue mission against all odds during the 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane, and went on to become the first Hispañic-American to assume command of a US Coast Guard Station, at Port Isabel, TX.

Lynxs will continue as the joint owner of the building and will also oversee property management of the facilities. A special thanks to my FD STONEWATER partners, Claiborne Williams and Ben Dineen, who, like Pablo Valent, fought through every challenge and brought it all to a successful conclusion.