As the San Antonio Spurs ponder a move to a new downtown arena, concerns have mounted over the future of the Frost Bank Center, potentially leaving it as an underutilized space. A town hall meeting, recently conducted by Commissioner Tommy Calvert on the East Side, engaged local leaders and community members in a robust discussion on viable alternatives to ensure its continued relevance and maximize its prime real estate value. According to a report by FOX San Antonio, Calvert proposed the expansion of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo as one such alternative.
In an effort to strategically adapt, Cody Davenport, CEO and Executive Director for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, suggested to lightly spread the event's impact throughout the year. "We got 1.5 million people that are about to come here just in the month of February, if we can lighten that load and spread it year around, Tommy I can give you people for your restaurants and your hotels,” Davenport told Fox San Antonio. Amidst speculation, ideas for demolishing both the Freeman Coliseum and the Frost Bank Center to develop the land more productively were deliberated. Calvert envisions a diverse range of uses, including a graduate school complete with a baby animal nursery, constructing parking garages, and building affordable housing, as reported by News 4 San Antonio.
Addressing the need to revitalize high unemployment areas, Calvert indicated a strategy to target local census tracts for construction trade programs, FOX San Antonio detailed. Further expansion is on the horizon, with the expectation that the city will transfer the Willow Springs Golf Course to the county, thus providing additional land for such developmental projects. The community turnout at the town hall reflected an array of opinions, with one public speaker emphasizing the need for unity: "We must stay connected in order to make all of this come together because the vision and the mission is very good."
Questions around financing these ambitious plans were raised, and Calvert listed several potential sources, including the inner city TIRZ and uncollected venue taxes, News 4 San Antonio reported. Attendees at the town hall also expressed their dissatisfaction with the proposition that taxpayer money could be used to construct a new stadium for the Spurs, seeing that the Frost Bank Center has not yet reached a quarter-century in age. With only one of two scheduled town halls having taken place, further discussion and community input are to be expected at the next meeting, set to be held in the Legends Room above the Freeman Coliseum.
