Bastrop officials are taking the next steps toward a potential full-service hospital, hotel and convention center, and public golf course following an April 28 City Council meeting.

The overview: City officials said the projects would address long-term needs tied to growth, including health care access, tourism and recreation.

Hospital: The study found a roughly 97% gap in local health care demand versus available services, and council directed staff to pursue a Phase 2 feasibility study.

Hotel and convention center: The study recommended a 300-room hotel and 40,000-square-foot convention center, and council directed staff to continue working with legal and financial partners.

Par-3 golf course: The study examined a potential 9-hole, par-3 public course in northwest Bastrop, and council directed staff to explore funding options and return July 28.

Notable quote: “These, amongst other things, are major needs and priorities for our city, especially the hospital, first and foremost,” Mayor Ishmael Harris said. “This is fantastic and a great move in the right direction for our community.”

A wave of new dining options is headed to Bastrop as several restaurants prepare to open at Sendero along SH 71, expanding choices for residents with everything from coffee and sandwiches to steaks and Tex-Mex

Chuy's (opens May 18): Tex-Mex menu items such as flautas, enchiladas and house specialties.

Crust Pizza Co. (opens in summer): Chicago-style thin-crust pizza restaurant with appetizers, pastas and desserts.

Einstein Bros. Bagels (opens by late 2026): The chain eatery is best known for its freshly baked bagels, sandwiches, coffees and other baked goods.

Jersey Mike’s Subs (opens in May): East Coast-style sandwich shop serving nearly 30 hot and cold options.

McDonald’s (opens by late 2026): Fast food chain known for popular hamburger meals.

Scooter’s Coffee (opens by late 2026): Drive-thru coffee franchise offering drinks and baked goods.

The Toasted Yolk Cafe (opens in summer): Breakfast and lunch chain serving brisket tacos, breakfast burritos, chicken and waffles and more.

Texas Roadhouse (opens in late spring): Steakhouse offering hand-cut steaks, ribs, scratch-made sides and fresh-baked dinner rolls with whipped honey cinnamon butter.

Camp Mystic, the Texas Hill Country camp where 28 people died in catastrophic flooding last July, announced April 30 that it will not welcome campers this summer.

The background: The decision comes nearly 10 months after 25 young campers, two teenage counselors and the camp’s executive director, Dick Eastland, died as the Guadalupe River camp flooded July 4. Camp Mystic’s owners had planned to open a secondary campsite called Cypress Lake in late May, but backed down at the urging of flood victims’ families and state lawmakers.

What's happening: A spokesperson for the Department of State Health Services, which licenses youth camps, confirmed to Community Impact that Camp Mystic had withdrawn its application to operate in summer 2026. 

In a statement, Camp Mystic officials said they did not want to “unintentionally effect further harm” on flood victims and their families.

"We also recognize that over 800 girls want to return to Camp Mystic Cypress Lake this summer," they wrote. "Our special bond with our Camp Mystic families does not change or end with the announcement."