San Antonio Museum of Art project previews city bond
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A rendering shows planned River Walk connection improvements. Image: Courtesy of the San Antonio Museum of Art
The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is seeking city bond money to expand access to the neighboring Museum Reach of the River Walk.
Why it matters: The city's planned 2027 bond is expected to be just a fraction of the size of its last bond program if officials don't raise the tax rate for it.
- Political fights among the mayor and city councilmembers are already brewing over how to spend the limited funds, or whether to raise taxes a second time.
Zoom in: The museum wants $4–5 million for the project, part of its larger campus renovation plan. It would reopen the now-unused River Walk entrance to the museum along Arden Grove.
- The plan would also renovate a 3.3-acre green space across from the museum's main building, and create a tree-lined walkway that connects the neighborhood to the south side of the river.
What they're saying: "This initiative represents both a celebration and a responsibility," SAMA board chair Edward Hart said in a statement.
- "We are reinvesting in the Museum Reach, expanding access to the river and our campus, and creating new pathways that will welcome residents and visitors into a more connected, vibrant cultural landscape."
Context: The city prepares a bond package for voters every five years to cover major upgrades to streets, drainage, parks and more that wouldn't be funded in the annual city budget. The last bond also devoted money to affordable housing.
- Often a hot topic of debate among councilmembers is how much bond money should go to "citywide" and cultural amenities versus basic city infrastructure.
- "I would say we cannot afford external agency requests and no project should be considered citywide," District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said last week, in reference to the smaller bond. He used the zoo as an example.
Zoom out: City officials said last week that the 2027 bond could be $442 million without a tax increase — less than half of the $1.2 billion bond program San Antonio voters passed in 2022. The city has lost revenue, partly from declining property values and less consumer spending.
- City manager Erik Walsh proposed to put about $35 million of that toward downtown improvements to support a new Spurs arena. That is sure to generate questions from councilmembers.
- Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones this week proposed leaving those arena-related upgrades out of the bond and spending the majority of it on affordable housing and the city's poorest council districts.
What's next: The City Council is scheduled to receive another briefing on the bond program and the community input process on Wednesday.