SAN ANTONIO – An attempt to block further demolition of the former Institute of Texan Cultures building in court will be delayed until at least next week.
During a Thursday morning hearing, 224th District Court Judge Marisa Flores said pleas to the case’s jurisdiction would need to be heard before the Conservation Society of San Antonio could get a temporary restraining order, but the society’s attorneys said they weren’t prepared to do that.
The Conservation Society also worries that if it can’t get its request for a demolition pause heard at the same time, the issue of jurisdiction could derail its lawsuit long enough for the building to be completely torn down.
The Brutalist-style building was built ahead of the 1968 World’s Fair but now sits in the path of the city’s plans for a multi-billion dollar sports and entertainment district. City renderings of the district show a new Spurs arena and mixed-use development in the same area.
In an effort to keep the former ITC building standing, at least for now, the society sued the University of Texas at San Antonio and the City of San Antonio last week. The university owns the site, but the city has an exclusive option to acquire it.
After portions of an exterior wall were removed as part of what UTSA says is asbestos remediation work, the Conservation Society has tried to speed up its legal efforts, seeking a TRO ahead of the April 15 hearing that was originally scheduled.
However, the society worries that its lawsuit could be blown up by what one of its attorneys called “lawyer tricks.”
The city and UTSA argue they have sovereign immunity, which protects them from lawsuits like the Conservation Society’s, and they want the issue of jurisdiction heard before a judge decides whether to order a pause on demolition work.
Even if a judge rules in its favor on the jurisdiction, the society’s attorney says UTSA and the city could immediately appeal and cut off further efforts to get an injunction.
“And it gets tied up in the appeals court, which takes months — usually, you know, three to six months — at which point they could have already effectively demolished the building,“ Art Martinez de Vara told reporters after the hearing.
”And so I think they see it as a tactic to win without having to get to the merits of the case or have their actions reviewed by a court to see whether or not they were they were properly following the (Antiquities Code of Texas)."
A hearing on the jurisdiction is scheduled for Monday, while a hearing on the TRO is still scheduled for Tuesday.
Martinez de Vara said they will attempt to get the judge on Monday to continue the hearing until Tuesday, ”where we can have an evidentiary hearing, witnesses present, you know, all the photos and pictures and demonstrably show the demolition alongside their claims at immunity. And then, the judge can decide whether they want to put a (temporary injunction) in place and then rule on the on the sovereign immunity issue. But we want to have a judge to have that option."
CORRECTION - Judge Marisa Flores was identified by the wrong first name in an earlier version of this story. KSAT regrets the error.