Editor’s note: The San Antonio Report is pleased to feature the weekly bigcitysmalltown podcast hosted by Robert Rivard, co-founder of the Report. We’ll be publishing a brief synopsis of the podcast each Tuesday.
By 2028, UTSA wants to have 10,000 students studying and living on 32 acres of its downtown campus. Microtransit, student housing and mixed-use development will transform the area and economy.
Veronica Salazar, UTSA’s executive vice president for Business Affairs and chief enterprise development officer, talked to bigcitysmalltown podcast host Robert Rivard about UTSA’s impact on downtown and the future of the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC).
Salazar, who oversees the Campus Master Plan and the continuing expansion of the downtown campus, discussed the university’s expansion into the new UTSA School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center, the UTSA Southwest Campus (previously the Southwest School of Art) and a move away from Hemisfair for the ITC.
She said UTSA is interested in relocating the ITC to property just steps away from the Alamo, near the Crockett Hotel.
“If we just get a fraction [of tourists] that will come to the ITC, we could still tell the story we want to tell,” she said. “We’re committed to making sure that museum continues and is thriving and is successful.”
“When we get past the emotion of the discussion of the Hemisfair area buildings, we realize the mission of the museum is to celebrate and honor Texan cultures, which seems perfectly aligned with the new team in place redeveloping the Alamo Plaza,” Rivard said. “It’s a no-brainer to move that museum into the heart of the visitor district.”
Salazar said UTSA’s vision includes a mixed-use development at the Hemisfair campus.
“In all of our evaluations, we have been very clear that in order to have a successful new museum that can be a new build and operated, we need to develop the Hemisfair campus,” Salazar said. “Our intent is to do a mixed-use development there that then will serve as paying the debt service and paying the operations of the new facility [museum].”
The university will also implement a new microtransit system with Centro and VIA Metropolitan Transit, free for students and the community between the downtown campus, San Pedro I and II buildings, and the Southwest Campus.
“Once we complete the ecosystem and the buildings, then you’ll start seeing these students that are prime for collaborations with [Geekdom] and other places downtown,” Salazar said. “We see great potential in bringing a college like that to the downtown core.”
Listen at the link below or visit bigcitysmalltown to listen to Episode 44 featuring Veronica Salazar.
This article has been updated to correct that Centro and VIA Metropolitan Transit will partner with UTSA for a microtransit system.
