San Antonio could soon be boasting a new urban park, dubbed The Link, as officials have deemed the ambitious project feasible—though questions remain about its practicality and funding, San Antonio Report reveals. The quarter-mile strip is estimated to cost up to $150 million, potentially providing a vibrant reprieve from city life with plans boasting waterfalls and plant-filled landscapes reminiscent of the city's renowned Botanical Garden.
Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert has championed the proposal, which aims to connect two significant downtown areas by excavating a channel along Savings Street, and hinted at its potential for revitalizing tourism which has seen a downtrend lately "It’s a viable project. It is a real project. And that is the message going forward," Calvert said, emphasizing his belief that now is the time for such an investment, as reported by the San Antonio Report. Despite having some community support and a visual feast of renderings and 3D models valued at $90,000 funded by the feasibility study, the project's lofty cost has sparked the concern of city officials and residents alike many of whom juggle with everyday financial strains and question the allocation of resources to what some decry as unnecessarily extravagant.
Through a feasibility report by the San Antonio River Authority, it has been determined that to create The Link, considerable engineering feats would be necessary—digging roughly 18 feet down, erecting retaining walls, and creating underpasses, as described by Shaun Donovan, SARA's manager of environmental sciences. The Link's designs currently do not entail shops or restaurants that might attract tourists, like the iconic River Walk does, leading some, like property owner Bernice Beck, to question the potential for economic development opportunities.
While federal funds are eyed as potential contributors, thanks to a windfall in infrastructure spending with no current economic impact study done on the project, the chances of securing such funding are yet to be seen, with The Link not serving any flood control purposes the financing could be hard to come by. Meanwhile, Calvert remains optimistic about the possibilities "There are very few ideas that people come up with in this town that have that kind of support organically from the community," he told the San Antonio Report. With challenges ahead and government budgets tightening, the county's commitment to this urban beautification and connectivity endeavor hangs in the balance.
