The City of San Antonio has disclosed plans for a proposed $5 million aquatic center to be located near the historic site of Mission San Jose, offering a blend of recreational avenues for residents. The center is set to feature a 3,020-square-foot pool alongside offerings tailored for youth, which include a shallow, zero-entry lagoon, with provisions for additional elements such as a slide tower and lazy river in the future.
Officials have slotted the project's completion for the fall of 2027, wielding funds allocated for park developments from the 2022 bond and supplemental monies pursuant to the tree mitigation fund. The development will not only incorporate a sizable number of trees, specifically 89, but also serve as a beacon for communal engagement with flexible space for a rich variety of outdoor activities, according to the San Antonio Report.
Strategically placed between the hum of Mission Marquee Plaza, and the hubs of community like the Harvey E. Najim Family YMCA and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9186, the aquatic center is poised to become a nexus of social and recreational activity. Integral to this new development is the Mission Marquee Plaza, once known as the Mission Drive-In Theater, a vestige of cinematic history that has been repurposed as a communal space.
Architectural echoes of the past will reverberate through the design, with Rialto Studio, the landscape architecture firm behind the project, drawing aesthetic influence from the Mission Marquee Plaza amongst others. The firm, which has a history of shaping spaces such as Confluence Park, San Pedro Creek, and the Witte Museum, aims to integrate local architectural heritage into the aquatic center. "The building layout is intended to evoke a compound-style common to the missions with buildings and fencing providing a secured perimeter allowing water play activities to leisurely occur in the protected interior," the San Antonio Report quoted from the project proposal.
Before the aquatic center’s plans can make the leap from concept to construction, approval lies in the hands of San Antonio's Historic and Design Review Commission, with the final review slated for January 21. This step is crucial to ensuring that the addition of such a facility respects the cultural tapestry of the Mission Historic District, and that it harmonizes with the sites of memory it seeks to rub shoulders with.
