About three dozen people filled a community meeting room Thursday night for the first of two public input sessions on what the city should do with a local ballpark when the lights go out.
“It’s bittersweet,” Melissa Leija, a neighborhood resident said, before the meeting started.
The 6,200-seat Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium that opened in 1994 is considered no longer up to Major League Baseball standards despite multiple upgrades.
But because the stadium is very near where she lives, Leija said she will miss the tradition of going to see the Missions play so close to home, and taking her young nephew along.
“I’m disappointed but I understand the ‘why,’” she said, noting that San Antonio is like many cities today centralizing their event venues in the urban core.
But she also has trouble envisioning how a 7,500-capacity stadium will fit within the designated footprint downtown where the team’s owners and developer Weston Urban plan to build the $160 million ballpark, housing and a hotel.
District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan opened the public meeting saying he wants to ensure that when the Missions leave in 2029 the newly vacant stadium property is developed into “something the community wants and deserves.”
Funding for redevelopment of the stadium property, he said, could potentially come from the 2027 bond.
Galvan said he’s also talked with representatives from Port San Antonio, VIA Metropolitan Transit and University Health about opportunities with the property.
“There’s not any kind of big plans of them moving onto the site or anything like that, but they are very interested in [because it’s city-owned land] how can they partner there in some way.”
The second input session is scheduled for Aug. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Ron Darner Parks and Recreation Operations Headquarters, 5800 Historic Old Highway 90 West.
The city is also gathering input via an online community survey.
“Our focus is really first and foremost having this community-centered process to develop a master plan,” said Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, director of the city’s economic development department.
Though the new ballpark isn’t expected to be complete until 2029, Hicks-Sorensen said the city is working now to come up with a plan for Wolff Stadium that supports the neighborhood.
Area residents who attended the meeting had a long wish-list for redeveloping the property. Some of those ideas included:
- Farmer’s market with shade
- Park space, trails and a garden
- Food truck park and dog park
- Children’s museum and play area
- Senior center and heritage center
- Drive-in movie theater or amphitheater
- Hospital, therapy clinics and wellness resources
- Grocery store, restaurants and coffee shops
They also had ideas for what they did not want: gambling studios, pawn shops, smoke shops, data centers and warehouses, charter schools, plasma centers and used car lots.
Rudy Lopez, a trustee on the Edgewood ISD board, said the property should serve children in some way.
“Being on the school board, I want to make sure that whatever goes up here benefits our kids first, for kids that live in an area that is tremendously underserved,” he said.
Melody Herrera said she hopes the city has a plan to get input from young people. She said her 22-year-old son, Michael Valdez, appeared to be the youngest person at the meeting.
“This is going to directly affect generations to come,” she said. “They should have a voice also because they will be using the space later.”
But Joey Cipriano, president of the Thompson Neighborhood Association, added that services for seniors are needed in an area with an aging population.
Juan Atilano recently moved to the neighborhood from District 2 on the East-Northeast Side and expressed dismay over some of the inequities he has seen in the city. He described a disconnected park system and a stray dog problem in District 6.
Hearing everyone’s ideas, Atilano said, “it kind of sounds like we just want the basic necessities that every other side of town has. I feel like the basics aren’t being met here.”
Longtime neighborhood residents also had strong opinions about the future of Wolff Stadium.
Joseph Guerra said he has lived in the neighborhood for 75 years, so long that he remembers when most of the area was occupied by migrant workers. He and his wife often walked to Wolff Stadium for games.
“All ideas that have come out of this group are really fantastic, and they’re things that we need to really look at,” Guerra said. “But there’s got to be things that are monetarily possible. I agree with 100% of the things that are said here, but we need to keep it focused.”
Wolff Stadium was named for former mayor and county judge, Nelson W. Wolff, in 1995.
The former city mayor and county judge led efforts to build the new ballpark, relocating the Missions from a stadium at the St. Mary’s University campus where the team played from 1968 to 1993.
Public input also is being sought for another San Antonio sports venue, the planned new Spurs arena and sports and entertainment district frequently called Project Marvel.
On Wednesday, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones announced three listening sessions will be held to discuss giving San Antonio residents the opportunity to vote a second time “on their $489 million contribution to the arena,” she wrote.
The first session was held Thursday evening. Another is planned for Aug. 7, 10 a.m., at the Northeast Senior Center on Thousand Oaks Drive, and another on Aug. 10, 6:30 p.m., at the Urban Ecology Center on Northwest Military Highway.
