CORPUS CHRISTI - State parks in the Coastal Bend are suffering from a lack of funding and maintenance. During the past several weeks, 6 News has reported on the funding problems that plague the Texas State Park System. Friday, 6 News went further and got an an eye-opening look at several park in the area.

Three years ago at Lake Corpus Christi, 50 feet of a retaining wall collapsed. The re-bar, nails and jagged concrete have never been repaired. Further down the road, is a wobbly pier that is heavily worn down underneath.

"It's about lived its life," Assistant Park Director David England said.

England also showed 6 News the walls of a cabin that have rotted through completely and one of the 50-year-old restrooms that is now closed for the third time this year because of major plumbing problems.

"So what is needed is for this restroom to go away, and build a new one in its place," England said.

Further north at Choke Canyon State Park, some of the water is still off because the park's plant is unable to properly clean it. And out at Mustang Island State "Par", the beach is fine, but the nearby pavilion is old, and the pylons are cracked and broken.

Park visitors, like Juan Ruiz, seem patient but have noticed the decline.

"As long as it doesn't go down, we're having a good time," Ruiz said, "...as long as it doesn't depreciate in the way it looks or get any worse."

Park employees said when visitors begin to question things like this, it becomes not just a funding issue for them, but a morale issue also.

"You have people coming in, making complaints about the situation out here, not knowing that it's out of our control," England said.

Worst of all, as of today, there are no plans to make any major changes that would help that situation to go away.

There is a special tax on sporting goods that's supposed to pay for park expenses. Last year, that tax brought in $105 million. But because of a revenue cap created by lawmakers in 1995, the department only got about $15 million of that.

The good news is that some top lawmakers are now calling for change, asking that the cap be lifted, or that other money be spent to help repair and maintain the park system.

Online Reporter: Bart Bedsole