Local developer Andrew (Hadi) Nurcahya has a vision for an entertainment district in Katy – with the historic J.V. Cardiff & Sons rice dryer at 5321 First Street as the centerpiece.

Already open is the popular Katy Beer Garden venue, and street and drainage improvements are underway on Third Street, with additional parking spaces to be added as well.

So, what’s next?

Well, nothing says “Katy” like trains.

In a salute to the city’s railroad-centric past, Nurcahya is adding a ride-on train attraction that will carry passengers around the base of the rice dryers. The train, which travels at a slow speed, is very safe for children and senior citizens, he said.

The miniature train, acquired in 2024 from Titan Trains of Boones Mill, Virginia, at a total project cost of just under $100,000.00, was custom-painted to Nurcahya’s specifications. The gasoline-powered vehicle can hold up to 20 passengers. It will be driven by an “engineer” and there will also be a “conductor” who will help ensure safety, especially as passengers board and exit the train. During each ride, the train will make three loops around the base of the rice dryer.

Passengers will depart from a brick loading platform. The train will pass over a brick crossroad and then past an area that Nurcahya says will host a small vendor market of up to ten tents. The vendors will rotate each week in order to keep the market “fresh,” he said. A future restaurant is also planned for the base of the rice dryer, just past the vendor market area.

Another building – which Nurcahya calls the “train depot building” – will house model trains which were donated to the Katy Heritage Society by David Malloch of Beaumont. The interior of the building will maintain its historic look, with exposed ceilings.

To the north of that building, another structure will house multiple concession stands, which will sell “all the usual carnival foods” such as lemonade, candy apples, cotton candy and popcorn – and which will offer Mexican street corn, coffees, boba tea, mangonadas and other food with international flair. Future plans for this area include the addition of a canopy and development of a second level.

Just next to the dryer, there will be a stage and a small grassy area for seating, plus a few “stand-up” tables. Nurcahya wants to make this available to community groups for their events. “We want this property to be the go-to place for community,” he said.

Nurcahya said that the dryers will be repainted a bright white, up to a height of about 50 feet. The top portion of the dryers will also be painted at a later date. “The community has been asking for this,” he said.

There will also be a small gift shop that will offer merchandise that is Katy-related and Texas-related, he said, which will complete phase two of the project. Phase three – to be built in an area that is currently fenced off – will feature a three-story office building with a food court on the first floor, co-working spaces on the second floor, and a banquet hall/event space on the third floor.

Nurcahya hopes to have the train operating and open to the public at the end of May. It will run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m., all year long. Tickets for the train will be set at $3.00 each, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Katy Heritage Society. He said that he chose that particular nonprofit not only because they have been helpful to him as he has developed the historic rice dryers, but also because “this location is infinitely blessed.”

“We have something here in Katy that other people don’t have – a monument, a part of history which we want to preserve,” Nurcahya said.