City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department will host five meetings over four weeks to gather public input on the drastic changes and improvements proposed in the Brackenridge Park Master Plan.
City staff will give an overview of the master plan at each meeting before breaking into stations, each of which will tackle different aspects of the plan, from parking garages to historic preservation to landscaping. Attendees can speak to the group, vote on different ideas, and submit comment cards.
Citizens are encouraged to email comments to BrackenridgeParkMasterPlan@sanantonio.gov or mail to Parks and Recreation, Attn: Brackenridge Park Master Plan, PO BOX 839966, San Antonio, TX 78283-3966.
City staff will tally the votes, read through comments, and survey the results of the five meetings to better understand where public opinion stands on each of the master plan’s propositions.
“Nothing to date has been adopted or approved, so this is just an extended comment period for people to provide that input,” said Homer Garcia, San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department acting assistant director. “Because at the end of the day, the park use will not change. The master plan is more of a vision we want to achieve, not necessarily an implementation plan.”
The meetings will be from 6-8 p.m. in various quadrants of the city:
- Tuesday, June 14 – Lions Field Adult and Senior Center, 2809 Broadway St.
- Tuesday, June 21 – Doris Griffin Senior One-Stop Center, 6157 NW Loop 410, Ste. 120
- Monday, June 27 – Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Theater, 1301 Guadalupe
- Monday, June 28 – Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 North Hackberry
- Thursday, July 7 – Phil Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center, 8400 NW Military Hwy
- Wednesday, July 13 – Ramirez Community Center, 1011 Gillette Blvd
Click here to download the master plan from the City’s website.
The public meetings, Garcia said, were prompted by concerns over the level of public outreach regarding the master plan.
“Through the master plan process, we’ve had two primary public meetings to date and at the (last) meeting, there was some discussion about there not being adequate public outreach to make sure the park users are reflected in the comments being provided,” Garcia said. “So we have expanded the public meetings to have that additional time to comment.”
The main tenants of the plan include reducing vehicular traffic, restoring the park’s natural features and improving water quality, restoring and preserving the park’s cultural and historical features, increasing park visibility and pedestrian access to and within the park, and recapturing green space.
(Read more: Brackenridge Park Master Plan: More People, Fewer Cars)
Among other transformative changes, the plan suggests turning the San Antonio Zoo parking lot on Tuletta Drive into a 10-acre Grand Lawn and the closures of several park entrances to reduce cut-through traffic, thereby making the area safer for pedestrians. It also calls for the construction of three new public-private parking garages along the park’s perimeter, the restoration of the Catalpa-Pershing Channel to include pedestrian and bicycle pathways, and the restoration of the Sunken Garden Theater and other historic structures.
The plan is backed by the Brackenridge Park Conservancy and has received positive feedback from 20 stakeholder institutions located near the park and along Broadway Street, Garcia said.
Top image: Rendering of the North End History and Walking Area, proposed by the Brackenridge Park Master Plan. Courtesy of Brackenridge Park Conservancy.
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