Last month my spouse and I were in Corpus Christi, Texas, where we lived in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was quite the nostalgia trip. Some things and places have stayed the same in the last 30+ years. A lot has changed, though, or even disappeared.We stayed at a hotel in the downtown bayfront area, so I'd go out early every morning for a long walk, looking for things that were still there and things that were long gone.
One site that caught my eye was this one. It is sitting in what used to be the median between the northbound and southbound lanes of Shoreline Drive, along the bayfront in downtown Corpus Christi. It used to sit right outside the Memorial Coliseum (demolished in 2010), and now it is next to a playground. And it had an aircraft on it, but I couldn't remember exactly what.
A little digging produced the photo below, taken in 1981. As you can see, this memorial was on the south side of the Coliseum (pictured to the left in the photo), and featured an Army helicopter from the Corpus Christi Army Depot. I'm not sure why the helicopter was removed - perhaps it was taken down before a hurricane.
ETA October 26, 2019 - I did a little research in old newspapers about this helicopter. The first copter was put up in 1970 and was blown off the pedestal two months later by Hurricane Celia. Workers repaired it and it stayed until November 1989, when it was replaced by another helicopter that was removed in June 1997 due to salt water corrosion. That one was replaced in November 1997, and that last one was apparently there though at least October 2001 and possibly April 2005, based on some other stories I found. My guess is the November 1997 copter also corroded and was removed, but then was not replaced.
The chopper that was replaced in November 1989 ended up going to the Aransas Pass VFW Post 2932. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, it was blown off its mount. At the Aransas Pass City Council meeting on June 4, 2018, it was reported that "the helicopter that was damaged during Hurricane Harvey is being transported to Illinois for repairs."
ETA August 2022 - the concrete base the helicopter used to rest on is now gone.
© Amanda Pape - 2016 - click here to e-mail me.
Thank you for this information. I was born in CC back in '63 and for reasons I cant figure out, I keep thinking there was an actual plane in that same general area where the helicopter was long ago. I realize there is a plane out on the T-head and it has been there for some time, but wish I could confirm or debunk whether a military airplane of some sort was around that spot. Just is an old foggy memory that I just would like to know for sure. I spent a lot of time on the seawall, T/L heads and Cole Park back then.
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