SAN ANTONIO – Several community organizations expressed opposition to Project Marvel’s plans and called for a renewed community-centered review process.
COPS/Metro, Domestica unidas, the Historic Westside Residents Association, Esperanza Peace & Justice Center and other organizations attended the Monday morning press conference.
Project Marvel is the City of San Antonio’s multi-billion-dollar plan to create a sports and entertainment district in Hemisfair in downtown San Antonio. A new Spurs arena would be the main attraction.
Included in the overall project are:
- An expansion to the Henry B. González Convention Center
- Alamodome improvements
- A land bridge over Interstate 37
- Retrofitting the former John H. Wood Jr. federal courthouse into a concert venue
- Various proposed mixed-use developments
During Monday’s press conference, the groups largely expressed mistrust in what they described as plans that did not consider the communities’ needs.
Susan Strawn, a District 1 resident who ran unsuccessfully for the council seat during the May election, discussed three takeaways about the project and its financing.
Strawn said the project was being “deliberately and irresponsibly rushed.”
Pointing to the San Antonio Spurs’ contract at the Frost Bank Center — which ends in 2032 — and city council’s recent awareness of Project Marvel plans, Strawn said the short time frame for acting was “particularly egregious.”
In her second point, Strawn said the city “should provide neutral facts to inform debate, not a marketing campaign.”
She called the city’s pitch to citizens that tourists will foot the bill for much of the project’s costs “misleading.”
“The truth is that all of the proposed funding strategies tap funding that could be put to other uses,” Strawn said.
Strawn closed by saying there still had not been a cost impact analysis generated, despite repeated requests by city council and the mayor.
She pointed to an economic benefits report filed last week, which experts KSAT spoke to called “useless.”
The city commissioned CSL International to perform the analysis. The group specializes in the sports, entertainment, hospitality and leisure industries.
Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, called the report “an embarrassment to the City of San Antonio.”
“We don’t want this,” Sanchez said. “How dare we again spend money to hire best friends from the Spurs to tell us what they want the analysis to be like?”
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