The Yellow Rose of Texas: Urban Pioneering in Amarillo

I'm fascinated with urban pioneering--and not just the buy-a-house-in-a-crumbly-neighborhood kind. I like the idea of people setting up scrappy, inventive, for-the-people businesses on downtown sites that in another era, not too long ago, would have been considered urban wastelands. So I jumped at the chance to visit my sister-in-law, Gina Mancuso, and her boyfriend, Ben King, to see what they're doing with a former lumber yard on the edge of downtown Amarillo, in the Texas panhandle.

Here's the front end of the property. Ben's mom owns what's essentially a square block parcel, and has handed it over to Ben to turn into something productive. BJ Coe, the lumber yard, shut down decades ago. Ben's grandfather bought the property and tried out a number of businesses, including one that resulted in about 40 ancient Volvos being parked there for a number of years. Ben has been hauling junk off the place since 2011. So far, he has filled one dozen 30-yard dumpsters. (He also caught 40 cats, many possums and one small dog in Have-a-Heart traps.) Now he's getting serious about developing businesses.

Here are Ben and Gina enjoying breakfast at their local Burrito Stop restaurant. This is one of the places where they hatch their big dreams. They want the property to become part of an overall renaissance for downtown Amarillo, which is already underway. A number of cool older buildings are being renovated and new structures are going up. (It's at the stage Oklahoma City was 20 years ago.) The keystone piece is on the way: The city is building a baseball stadium for a Triple A club on the site of a former Coca-Cola bottling plant. The stadium will be between Ben's parcel and city hall.

The stadium site.

Ben hopes that over time the stadium will become a magnet for people seeking fun, food and entertainment in downtown Amarillo. Right next door, will be his businesses. He and Gina have a couple of ideas for now: 1) a downtown farmers' market and 2) a food truck plaza. Food trucks have been legal in Amarillo for just a few years and the phenomenon has yet to take off.  Ben figures by aggregating trucks in a location like his, people will come. The tentative name for the business is "Goodnight Chuck Wagon Food Plaza." Charles "Chuck" Goodnight, an Amarillo-area rancher, invented the chuck wagon in the 19th century. "Hopefully, this will be on the list of things that people will want to visit when they come to Amarillo," Ben says.

I was impressed with downtown Amarillo. There are a bunch of classy old buildings, like the Santa Fe Railroad building. Also a lot of beautiful and classy neon signs. Ben envisions a neon sign for the food truck plaza that features a chuck wagon with spinning wheels and a clanking cook pot. Ben grew up in Amarillo, so he has the local culture in his veins (though he has an undergraduate degree from UT San Antonio and a JD from Quinnipiac U. in Connecticut.) He told this story about himself: When he was a baby and was riding in a car with his mom, the car started to overheat. She quickly pulled to the side of the road, and, because she through the car was about to explode, she threw him out the window--where he landed in a sticker bush. No permanent harm done, though.

The lumber yard property is a sprawling maze of buildings and open spaces. Notice the banner. Ben does not own a gun, but perhaps he will get a canon.

There is decades-worth of valuable stuff stored on premises. These are car windshields on the left, and mysterious (to me) objects on the right.

Gina yanking on an engine hoist. 

Future farmers' market

Future food truck plaza.

We drove to the Cadillac Ranch, perhaps 10 miles out of town. The wind was brisk, but the cars were magnificent. Visitors are apparently encouraged to decorate them with spray paint.

After spending an activity-packed 19 hours with Ben and Gina, I wished I could be 30 years old again so I could pursue a crazy youthful dream like theirs. Mainly, though, I wish them great success in their "new beginning ahead."