While San Antonio may not boast the public spaces and park offerings of Paris or New York City, evolution is forthcoming … and it’s beginning at HemisFair Park. This 36-acre urban green space was the foundation of HemisFair ’68 and reigned supreme in its heyday. Over the years suburban migration began to suffocate the urban core and rendered HemisFair Park an underutilized historic treasure with astounding potential. But that’s all about to change.
In order to fully grasp HemisFair’s future, let’s take a look back. Despite the tales of lightening-fast assemblage, HemisFair ’68 was actually a decade in the making. During its 10 years of planning, securing support and funding, the “Confluence of Civilizations” concept developed, and structures were built in record time to allow completion for the opening festivities. The six months of celebration that followed attracted over 6 and a half million visitors.
Initially, San Antonio was the largest city in Texas decades before HemisFair ’68. However intense growth of the Dallas and Houston markets due to oil and gas and other industries, combined with decline of the agro and cattle business cast San Antonio a sleepy town in comparison.
Lagging in mid 20th century growth behind Dallas and Houston, HemisFair ‘68 put San Antonio on the national, and to some extent, international maps. City leaders credit the birth of our hospitality and convention industries to this event. HemisFair set us up to be a national poster child for tourism with the recognition of the Riverwalk, our historic fabric, culture and friendly disposition as unmatched assets for the attraction of out-of-towners.
HemisFair planners imagined a post-event use for this vital urban area as the campus for the University of Texas. But subsequent forces took this institution to greener pastures at an exurb site on what today is Loop 1604.
With a green space of this magnitude, it’s no surprise that several interesting plans have been presented and considered for this site, perhaps the most exciting being the development of a nude beach within a water park. Some may say it was fortunate prior plans were not executed.
Now, city leaders and visionaries have put forth serious effort to revaluate HemisFair and its potential; more importantly, they’re putting muscle behind their intent to breathe new life into the park. Dreams of new opportunities are simmering, not simply for economic revitalization and aesthetic enhancement, but for the pivotal role it will play in connecting our community and our urban core.
HPARC
The city has committed to action through the formation of HemisFair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation, also known as HPARC. The HPARC board consists of community volunteers who are passionate about urban San Antonio and include artists, developers, contractors, neighborhood activists, designers, financial experts, and historic preservationists.
Created to “aid and act on behalf of the City to accomplish certain governmental purposes of the City, HPARC will assist with acquiring property, planning, developing, constructing, managing, maintaining, and financing projects within HemisFair and areas adjacent to or near the Park in order to promote economic development, employment, and to stimulate business, housing, tourism, and commercial activity within the City … ” In other words, HPARC has the legal standing and council support to redevelop HemisFair in a way that no prior entity has previously.
While the mission of HPARC is multifaceted, it is clear in its intent. HPARC is to provide public oversight, devise strategy, and provide public policy advice regarding the redevelopment of HemisFair Park. Its charge is to orchestrate the acreage into a mixed-use and mixed-income environment that complements the history, heritage, and ambiance of San Antonio’s largest urban park.
Judicious oversight is critical, as HemisFair is more malleable than ever before. New land will become available for development at the park through the city and federal governments’ swap of the John Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse and the municipal police headquarters sites. With opportunity comes the responsibility of good planning.
Master Plan
A critical initial step to the development of HemisFair Park is to produce a uniquely San Antonio and visionary community-driven master plan for our storied urban park that incorporates the vision and guiding principles outlined in the HPARC’s formation documents.
As the HPARC board brings forth a national park and urban development expert master planner, challenges include making it a “plan of the community.” Its primary intent is for the use of San Antonians first. This vision reconnects the area to the adjacent neighborhoods and provides new mixed-use development, compatible in scale with adjacent properties.
It is hoped that HemisFair Park will flourish as an accessible neighborhood park and a vital mixed-use area that unifies the city, serves as a community gathering place, and centers on a city park which maintains and revitalizes the historic buildings.
Initial plans indicate the HemisFair master plan should be completed within a year, and execution of critical catalytic projects should be in place to celebrate the 50th anniversary of HemisFair, the 300th anniversary of our city and the Alamo, and 25 years since the institution of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2018.
San Antonio is forging ahead with its dreams of a vital and useful urban park; a space for a true Confluence of Civilizations whose time has finally arrived.
