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"Better Block" alley beautifies Baytown

Baytown is taking forgotten alleys and transforming them into something beautiful.

BAYTOWN, Texas -- Umbrellas are brining new life to a forgotten alley in Baytown, with hopes of beautifying the entire city.

Abandoned buildings are common place along Texas Avenue, so when you see someone pull out their camera, it takes others by surprise.

It's been that way for years and Hurricane Harvey didn't exactly help.

Sabrina Martin of the Baytown Tourism Division still remembers the street as the place where she took her senior photos. Beautiful green moss covered the walls of the alley on 124 West Texas Avenue, that was until graffiti and cold concrete took it it's place.

Having seen how art can transform even the dreariest of places, Martin made it her mission to bring beauty back to her city. The mantra, "love where you live," offered Martin inspiration.

"I would literally walk down the street looking for places to put art," said Martin.

The worse off, the better for Martin and that meant heading back to lot 124.

Calling it the "Better Block" initiative, city employees applied a fresh coat of paint and cleaned the concrete for a new look.

Oh and if you missed it, brightly tinted umbrellas now hang above the alley, shading it in spectacular fashion.

"You drive by and it's like, wow," said Olivia Garza, photographer with Liv's Looking Glass.

In six months Martin has turned the alley from a place you wouldn't send your kids, to a place where people are once again returning to take their senior photos.

"My cousin's girlfriend came to take her senior photos here and I was like, my place? What," asked Martin.

Local art students from Lee College have also signed on to help create murals on the alley's three walls to promote local ecology.

You'll see murals begin to pop up like at the Sterling Municipal Library and another one underway at the Art League of Baytown.

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