San Antonio city leaders are placing their bets on upgrading two major downtown venues, with the Alamodome and the Henry B. González Convention Center set to see a significant influx of cash for improvements. The City Council's approval of a tax deal on Tuesday could send a whopping $222 million their way, money stemming from a newly created "project financing zone," as reported by the Express-News.
The tax scheme will harness growth in state tax revenues from hotels within three miles of the venues, an innovative approach to finance urban development, but not without its own challenges, officials say. City Manager Erik Walsh has indicated that further financial sources will be evaluated, as the generated revenue isn't expected to cover the full extent of the upgrades, a development strategy informed by other Texan cities like Fort Worth and Dallas, the Express-News elaborated.
In a move signaling immediate progress, the City Council recently gave the nod to spend $500,000 on new lighting for the Alamodome and Convention Center. The Alamodome, celebrating its 30th anniversary, will see its stage spotlights refreshed for a price tag of $120,073, drawn from its Improvement and Contingency Fund; attendees of a San Antonio Brahmas football game will be among the first to experience the new lights, the San Antonio Report detailed.
Expanding the Convention Center is a part of the city's broader strategy to remain competitive, with concerns that its current state is less appealing than other cities'. The tax deal is a "first procedural step," according to Chief Financial Officer Ben Gorzell, suggesting that this is only the beginning of a longer term plan to revitalize the city's event-hosting capabilities. Meanwhile, another $397,300 will go to CRI Electric of San Antonio for an upgrade to the Convention Center's lighting panels – an important fixture since the 1998 expansion of the building, the San Antonio Report has reported.
Ultimately, neither of the lighting projects will tap into the Project Financing Zone (PFZ) as confirmed by city officials, and further PFZ projects remain under wraps.
