District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez and City Manager Erik Walsh called a town hall meeting to inform citizens of San Antonio about the developing Project Marvel — the city’s ongoing proposal to build a new sports and entertainment district. The officials hosting the meeting addressed any questions concerning the city’s project development. Pelaez began the meeting on April 2 at 6 p.m., allowing Walsh and Assistant City Manager Lori Houston to discuss the updates on the project.
Visual aids of the expected eight developments of the new sports and entertainment district were presented by Walsh; he addressed the demand for more convention centers and stadiums to host concerts, national conferences and conventions.
In the center of District One, it was illustrated that the eight developments are Henry B. González Convention Center expansion; the construction of a new Spurs arena, fostering a mixed new development; a reimagined Alamodome; renovating the John Woods Courthouse into an entertainment venue; a UTSA School of Hospitality and Convention Center and enhancing downtown infrastructure.
The planning of Project Marvel started in 2023. Walsh mentioned the city does not have enough money to fund the overall project. He compares the city’s future project to others like Austin and Houston tearing down their convention center to build new ones, explaining that “we need to remain competitive.”
For the project to become a reality, there needs to be a certain number of votes to be met to grant a bond issue.
“This project is going to happen, either all of it or some of it,” Walsh said. “We are not building this project for tourists, we are building it for San Antonioians.”
Houston discussed the projected outcome of the finished developments, suggesting that the new arenas and convention centers will attract events and stimulate the local economy.
The demolition of historical buildings for the project has posed a major obstacle. In light of UTSA coming to the city to request relocation of the Institute of Texan Cultures, they bought the Texas Pavilion to demolish it. Walsh emphasized that his top priority is maintaining the Convention Center, not necessarily the Texas Pavilion.
No construction has started, there is no funding for the project and the city must approve certain aspects of the development. Residents attended the close to two-hour meeting with lots of questions.
Concluding the presentation at 7:00 p.m., Plaez asked Walsh about pressing concerns that the residents at the townhall had. The floor was granted to the attendees to speak about their concerns.
“I want to see how much we’re making and where that money goes,” District 8 resident Curt Andrews said.
“What’s the situation for parking, and what is public transportation going to look like to access the arenas?” asked another resident.
“I don’t see myself in this project at all. It looks like this development is just going to raise prices on people living there, making it harder to attend events at these new buildings,” another resident commented.
Lewis Vetter, the President of the Conservation Society of San Antonio, sat in the front row of the meeting and had sent a question for Palaez to ask Houston: “Why do you hate the Texas Pavilion?”
Walsh personally addressed Vetter, saying that in light of the lawsuit filed earlier that morning against San Antonio, he decided to address the question.
Everything in the project is still developing. So far, the city, county, and Spurs have signed a memorandum of understanding. There is a developing community engagement plan in motion. Houston comments that this project is predicted to be completed by 2038.
English
Spanish