SAN ANTONIO – As the City of San Antonio tries to get residents looking toward its plans for a multi-billion-dollar sports and entertainment district downtown, some residents can’t help but look back.
The most high-profile part of Project Marvel is a new Spurs arena proposed for the southwest corner of Hemisfair. For the second day in a row at an East Side community planning workshop, though, discussion included the lack of meaningful growth around the team’s current home.
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Built in 2002, many expected the Frost Bank Center to prompt more development in the surrounding neighborhood. That has largely failed to happen, and critics complain that fans drive straight to the games and then straight home.
“To this day — you drive through the neighborhood, you look yourself — do you see a development of businesses? Do you see markets? Do you see stores? Do you see dining facilities?“ Cassandra Walker, who leads the nearby Harvard Place and Eastlawn Neighborhood Association, asked KSAT during a break in Wednesday’s discussion.
“So, when you have a community meeting like this, and you want people to give ideas or you want people to express, that’s probably just for the city’s benefit to show that they did it,” Walker continued. “It is not for the community’s benefit. And we know this. And the city knows this, too."
City executives and the architectural, planning and engagement firm hired to run the series of public meetings on Project Marvel, Able City, both said the workshops are not just an attempt to “check a box.” They said feedback from the meetings will be passed on to the city council, which will decide how to move forward.
Anthony Thomas, the president of the Coliseum Oaks Homeowners Association and vice-president of the D2 Presidents Roundtable, said to keep promises this time around, the city should “give it to the community in writing.”
“Because what y’all did in the past, y’all said y’all were going to do it, and y’all never did it,” Thomas said during a Wednesday focus group. “But now, if you put it in writing, that way the community has something to stand on.”
So far, most public discussions about what to do with the Frost Bank Center if the Spurs leave have come from the building’s owner, Bexar County.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert held a series of meetings to get public input about how to develop the area, and commissioners are moving ahead with plans to bring more year-round activity and rodeo-style events to the larger Freeman Coliseum grounds that border the current arena.
The city could be wading into those talks soon, as well.
Pegy Brimhall, a partner at Able City Communities, told Wednesday’s crowd that plans were in the works for a process in July or August that would be “all about the Frost Bank Center.”
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The two-day community planning workshops are happening in each of the 10 city council districts over the next two weeks, and all follow the same format.
DAY 1
- 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. — Housing Focus Group
- 3 - 4 p.m. — Transportation Focus Group
- 6 - 8 p.m. — Community Forum and Hands-On Mapping Exercise
DAY 2
- 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. — Public Community Space Focus Group
- 3 - 4 p.m. — Local Business Focus Group
- Noon - 7 p.m. — Guiding Principles Open House (interactive stations)
The city is encouraging residents to attend the meeting in their own district, but they are also welcome to attend any of the meetings.
The full list of meeting dates and addresses is below:
Tues - Wed, June 24-25
- D2 — Wheatley Heights Sports Complex, 200 Noblewood Drive, San Antonio, TX 78220
- D4 — Palo Alto College Legacy Room (Ozuna Library), 1400 W. Villaret Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78224
- D5 — Progreso Hall, 1306 Guadalupe St., San Antonio, TX 78207
- D7 — St. Paul Community Center, 1201 Donaldson Ave., San Antonio, TX 78228
Mon - Tues, June 30 – July 1
- D3 — Southside Lions Senior Center, 3303 Pecan Valley Drive, San Antonio, TX 78210
- D10 — Morgan’s Multi-Assistance Center, 5210 Thousand Oaks Drive, San Antonio, TX 78233
Tues - Wed, July 8-9
- D1 — Oblate School of Theology, 285 Oblate Drive, San Antonio, TX 78216
- D6 — Darner Parks & Rec. Headquarters, 5800 Historic Old Highway 90 W., San Antonio, TX 78227
- D8 — Phil Hardberger Urban Ecology Center, 8400 NW Military Highway, San Antonio, TX 78231
- D9 — Walker Ranch Senior Center, 835 W. Rhapsody Drive, San Antonio, TX 78216
SURVEY
The city also has an online survey in which residents can offer feedback.
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