Alamo Heights High School is getting a blockbuster remake. The longtime campus is trading much of its 1949 main wing for a new three-story academic and administrative building, with students slated to start class in the revamped space in August 2026. The project sits at the center of the district's Bond 2023 program and carries a roughly $116 million price tag.
The San Antonio Business Journal recently rolled out a "first look" photo gallery that spotlights finished classrooms, a refreshed Broadway-facing facade and other campus upgrades, and reports the project carries a $116 million price tag. The 20-slide gallery, with photography by Gabe Hernandez and reporting by James McCandless, makes clear just how much of the campus footprint has been rebuilt and reconfigured.
Bond dollars, design team and schedule
Voters approved Bond 2023, a $371 million package, on May 6, 2023, and the high school work (known as Package One) began in May 2024, according to district construction updates. As outlined by Alamo Heights ISD, LPA Design Studios is serving as the project's architect and Bartlett Cocke General Contractors is the construction manager. The district says the new building is on time and on budget for an August 2026 opening. District postings also describe staged moves of libraries and classrooms so the rest of the campus can be resurfaced and regraded.
Design choices and oak-tree protection
District renderings and notes show a new building that keeps the familiar Broadway elevation in spirit while adding larger classrooms, more natural light and outdoor learning spaces. As reported by the San Antonio Business Journal, Bartlett Cocke took special measures during construction to protect a collection of heritage live oaks on the site. Local coverage of the schematic design also notes that the district plans to salvage key artifacts, from the school's stained-glass mule to World War II service displays, for reuse or display in the new building.
Historic preservation and neighborhood debate
The overhaul did not move forward quietly. The city's Architectural Review Board initially split on the district's demolition request for the 1949 academic building, which sent the matter to City Council and drew a wave of public comment. The split and its context were detailed in reporting by the San Antonio Report, and Hoodline previously summarized the local debate in its earlier coverage of the school demolition fight.
What to expect this fall
District construction updates show the interiors in finish-out, with terrazzo going in at the front entry, HVAC already running in the north wing and preliminary landscaping underway. The school began staged furniture moves at the end of June ahead of the August 2026 opening, according to Alamo Heights ISD. The district notes that some site and athletic improvements will continue after students move in, with parking and field work phased to limit day-to-day disruption on campus.
For neighbors and alumni, the nearly finished project will offer the clearest look yet at how the district tried to balance preservation with modernization: a Broadway face that feels familiar, wrapped around new teaching spaces inside. The coming school year will be the first real test of that balance as students and the wider community settle into the updated campus.
