Designing an arboretum for San Antonio has been underway since May.
On Tuesday, community members got their first look at three big ideas for what the “museum of trees” could look like. Once completed, it will be the first one in South Texas.
Sasaki, the lead team designing Arboretum San Antonio, revealed options for the planned 188-acre tree sanctuary on the city’s South Side and asked for feedback on what people want most.
Funded through private donations and city and county funding, the project was first launched in May 2023 and will be completed in phases, said Evangeline Flores, chairwoman of the Arboretum board.
“This is a project that’s going to be $30-50 million by the time that we get it done,” Flores said. “You know how long it takes for trees to grow.”
Based on the input gathered in two meetings this week, and an online survey, the design team will present a final master plan in April, said Anna Cawrse, landscape architect and co-director in Sasaki’s Denver office.
“So many people wanted tree houses and canopy walks [so] you’ll see a lot of those in the concepts — I’ve never seen a community so excited about canopy walks so I’m happy about this,” Cawrse said.
Community gardens were also high on wish lists, she said, and she also discovered through surveys an appreciation for the importance of water and trees in South Texas.
Over 30 species of trees already exist on the site located along Salado Creek. “The opportunity to use this location was a Godsend because it already has so many trees, it already has water sources, it already has paths,” Flores said.
The concepts developed by Sasaki grouped previous community input into three main concepts — Wild San Antonio, Testing Grounds and Community Crossroads — each with various features and potential programs.
Wild San Antonio has features focused on restoration, education, exploration, nature and immersion, including things like trails, accessible play areas and cabins.
The Testing Grounds design is more of a landscape laboratory with research, production and environment at its core.
Community Crossroads emphasizes serving as a community hub with an event center and a learning landscape. It’s the overall idea that Jonathan Ayala said he liked best.
Attending the input session with Erica Rocha and their 10-year-old daughter, Ayala said they recently bought a home near the arboretum site, a former golf course on S.E. Military Drive.
“It’s the reason we purchased the house,” Rocha said.
The people who gathered at the Southside Lions Senior Center had the opportunity to talk with the Sasaki team and then use adhesive stickers to mark their preferences for various features, including what kind of play structure they liked and the type of food and beverage options they preferred.
Early on, many made their choice for a casual, indoor/outdoor lunch spot over the option of food trucks offering picnic lunches or an upscale and refined restaurant.
Nicole James, who also lives near the arboretum property, said she did not like the idea of food trucks. But she looks forward to having an amphitheater if jazz music is performed there.
The retired teacher hopes the arboretum provides peaceful places to walk and meditate.
Photos showing examples of the kinds of features that could be built into the arboretum are available on the Arboretum website where there’s also a survey to provide feedback in both English and Spanish.
