The new Berkley V. and Vincent M. Dawson Park under the Hays Street Bridge was slated for completion this month, but two discoveries that included an underground storage tank found on site derailed those plans.
The discoveries were made about a month into the project, which started in May. Construction resumed two months after the discoveries, and if there are no more delays, the park is slated for completion in spring 2024.
San Antonio City Council approved $2.5 million for construction in April and tapped J. Sanchez Contracting, Inc. that month. Construction started in May, later than expected, allegedly because of paperwork issues that the contractor disputed, the city said.
About a month into the project, contractors found the storage tank, which triggered a two-month delay, said Michael Martinez, the contractor’s project manager.
The underground tank was found near the corner of Lamar and North Cherry Street. It was “huge,” Martinez said. “Probably about 5,000 gallons, maybe about 30 feet in length and about 8 feet round.”
Martinez said he wasn’t sure what was found inside, but “lots of fluid” had to be pumped out.
“There was just a lot of water, maybe oil or gas inside there,” he said. “It could have been the rain, it could have been material that was left inside there when they moved out of there. I believe there was an old warehouse standing there.”
That was the second delay, Martinez said. First, construction workers bumped into concrete footing, or concrete poured underground to support a structure which was about 300 feet in length, 18 inches wide and about four feet deep, Martinez said. Then they discovered the tank.
Because of the discoveries, Martinez said they had “to submit a request for information on how to proceed on this, and it took a while to get those issues taken care of, but we had to demo every bit of that concrete.”
When construction workers found the tank, the contractor notified the project manager for the city. Martinez said the city inspected the storage tank before contracting an Environmental Remediation Company to dispose of it, per environmental regulations. Martinez said the environmental company pumped out everything inside the tank and hauled it away for a hazardous waste manifest, which according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tracks hazardous waste from the time it was discovered on site until its stored or disposed of.
“A lot of this is not on us. We have to submit a request for information from the engineer and we’ve been having trouble getting some of the stuff answered because they have to go through other engineers,” Martinez said.
The timeline to address the tank took about two months, Martinez said, delaying the project further. Twenty days of rain also delayed the project.
The city said administrative paperwork delayed the start of the project, but Martinez disputed that claim.
According to the city, the contractor needed to get their liability insurance and file required paperwork, including its list of subcontractors and bid and performance bonds, before they could start the job.
The notice to proceed was issued on May 1, “later than expected,” said Ross.
“We started the job when they told us to start it,” Martinez said. “There was no issues there, the bonds [ paperwork]. Everything got turned in.”
The city originally said the park would be completed in December, but on Wednesday, most of the park was still covered by mounds of dirt, while some sidewalks and portions of the skate park were set in place.
The 1.7-acre park is adjacent to the Alamo Brewery parking lot and will feature a skate park, a historic timeline walk describing the community’s connection to the Hays Street Bridge, an educational and historical play space, a pavilion and bike racks with repair stations.
The skateboard park itself is about 75% completed. A small 15-foot bridge and a restroom building are set in place and signs to identify where accent lighting needs to be installed. Site utilities like electrical and irrigation systems will be set next.
Martinez said the park will be completed on Feb. 24, 2023, if there are no further delays.
