LEAGUE CITY — A committee said changing the city from a bedroom community to a destination for tourists and locals alike will take infrastructure improvements, an expanded hike and bike trail system, a revitalized Main Street corridor and an amphitheater to attract artists, such as Willie Nelson.

City council members met with local business leaders and marketing experts Tuesday to take the initial steps to map out the city’s economic development plans. Rather than push forward with goals set last year, council members instead were reacquainted with them by listening to presentations given by the various stakeholders and city officials. 

Among those pitching ideas was Mel Bogus, head of the city’s Community Investment Committee, which has specific ideas for League City’s transformation. Many of the committee’s ideas were inspired by Roger Brooks, a consultant specializing in advising communities on how to become tourist destinations. 

Brooks was paid $15,000 to assess League City’s ability to become a tourist destination and presented some of his ideas to council in September. 

Brooks will visit again in March to meet with city officials to lay out how to move forward on some of his ideas. 

Along with ideas for amenities designed to attract tourists and local residents to spend money in the city, the committee came up with a new catch phrase: “Trails at the Water’s Edge.” 

The slogan trades on League City’s proximity to Clear Creek and its potential to become a mecca for water sports in the region, Bogus said. 

The city could build facilities along the creek for kayak and canoe enthusiasts, Bogus said.

In addition to having local residents use the facilities, Bogus said the committee envisioned getting runoff business from tourists from Houston and Galveston County visiting Kemah’s Boardwalk with a new amphitheater. 

“Our market is the 4 million people from Houston and Galveston,” he said. “We envision a family seeing Willie Nelson playing at our amphitheater in the evening after spending a day in Kemah getting sweaty on the boardwalk during the day and the next day they can come to the Clear Creek to canoe and kayak.” 

Bogus said Kemah’s visitors often do not stay there after spending the day at the boardwalk and that events at the amphitheater and water sports would give visitors Kemah a reason to stay in League City’s hotels and spend money at shops and restaurants on a revamped Main Street. 

A hike and bike trail connecting the proposed amphitheater, water sports facilities, farmers market and dog park with the Big League Dreams sports complex, Main Street and the city’s existing parks is what the Community Investment Committee ultimately envisions for the city, he said. 

Tony Allender, the city’s director of land management, said League City could pay for the transformation with revenue from the quarter-cent it receives from sales tax, grants from the Texas Department of Transportation and bonds issued by the newly formed League City Municipal Improvement District. 

The municipal utility district is the city’s new economic development agency after the city’s economic development board was dissolved earlier this month. 

Not all of the ideas outlined in Tuesday’s meeting will have to wait. Tuesday, the city will unveil its vision for an expanded hike and bike trail system during a council workshop session.