New police Head Quarters is proposed on old city K-Mart site and then New Federal Building on the site of the current Police Headquarters.

Don't forget about the Covention Center Expansion, that should be completed by 2015.

^^^STLtoSA, do you know which direction the conv cent expansion will go?

Oh I thought that was just the court house. Nvm then.

100% Against anymore money going into the area around Hemisphere until there is a 50 year plan. Too much building and rebuilding.

Take any money they want to spend there and put it into the area bounded by Durango (S) I-35 (W) Dolorosa (N) and the River (E). This area is mostly parking lots and a huge huge eyesore. Extend the river walk west redevelop this area including a new ball park.

SA has been putting money into the Hemesphire area since the 1960's and it is time to just allow the Convention Center to do thing it needs to do to make a living and let downtown SA develop other areas. Could you imagine the SW corner of downtown if the city started putting the money it has put into the Hemisphere area all these decades?

Hemisfair ;)

Can we get rid of all those probation offices on Dolorosa?
I hate walking down that street with everybody waiting to see their PO's. Perhaps that is where the SAPD headquarters should go, a couple of blocks over from where it is now or in that empty lot in front of the detention center to hide it; then build the Federal building where the old HQ's is at; that way the old Kmart lot could be used for something useful in the downtown area like a grocery store?

Don't forget it's a SAPD/SFPD HQ building. :banana:

After the World's Fair, not much money has been floated to the way of Hemisphere itself. Mainly Convention Center centric development and Tower of the America touch ups. The city owns the park that's why they want to do something with it. The city doesn't own the land in the area you're talking about. But there is stuff going on in that area as well. The new Fed courthouse, new police/fire HQ.

SKW, I love your plan. I remember something like that proposed a long time ago for the park, but it wasn't implemented. I could see Rivercenter being upset about that. But as long as there aren't any restaurants on the lake, it wouldn't be too bad for them.

They are already a couple months into building a new Bexar County Probation center/offices/HQ across from the current jail (Bexar Co. Detention Facility). Dunno what's gonna happen with their current offices. The city does not own the building, but leases it. That building has seen some hard use over it's life, but I'm not familiar enough with it to say if it's remotely arch. significant. Either way, hopefully someone will do something worthwhile with the building or the site.

I'm all for a downtown grocery store, but let's not be so tied to existing structures. Just because the K-Mart was a 'big box' facility does not mean that's the only place a grocer could go in. Additionally, I don't think a grocery store that would go in would want a space that big. Evidenced by the fact that it's been sitting empty this long. HEB and others aren't stupid. I'd say HEB is about as good as it gets when it comes to knowing what stores would be profitable in which locations. Clearly the market wont bear it yet- last week they just closed the South Presa store- the only remaining 'traditional' store in the downtown area bounded by 10/35/37. They also arent gonna put a store in out of the goodness of their heart, cause that's not what they do, no matter how cool we think it would be or how much we think it would add to the quality of life in DT. They, or someone will go in when it makes financial sense. We're all just gonna have to wrap our heads around that and live with it for a while.

That having been said, I'd like to contradict myself and say I think there is an opportunity for HEB to explore an "HEB Pantry" store concept somewhere in the DT or near DT area. It just seems that here of late they are so concerned with the SuperHEB or HEBPlus concept in SA they can't/wont focus on anything else. I beleive their current strategy is to be competitive with Wal-Mart and SuperTarget by fighting that battle here in SA on those terms. Cause it seems lately, that's all they are building. I haven't been paying attention, but I can't remember when the last time HEB opened a new, regular store that wasn't an HEBPlus.

The HEB pantry idea is kind of what I was thinking about. The area does needs a "walkable" grocery store. With the Vistana having 240+ units, all of the lofts being built down Flores, and all of the existing residents near downtown, something is needed. When I was growing up we needed the Handy Andy just as much as we needed the HEB on Presa. Maybe HEB is just moving out before it moves back in; it wouldn't make too much sense to have 2 HEB's in the 'inner' loop.

Whole Foods or Trader Joe's would work

The city didn't own the land that Hemesphire was built on. Money had been put into that area enough already. Expansion of the Convention Center is fine. Tweak the little free land there is left and leave it as a parkish area.

Now take all the funds and buy up the lots and wasteland sw of downtown and start creating something useful there.

Just thought it needed to be restated.

tweak the free land? why? no one uses it as a park now. why tweak it so it is nicer for no one to use?

the city and hardberger are only moving towards a redevelopment of the park because it is such a crappy waste of prime downtown land as it is.

whetever plan they come up with will include creating a little more usable green space from the mish mash of nonsense that is currently there in addition to adding development along the periphery to give the area some life.

Hemisfair park already has some good things, like the old houses that were saved, ITC, ToA and the UNAM campus.

The area has so much potential.

http://i34.tinypic.com/2mw5pig.jpg

Absolutely, in 2024 or after.

We can't even get a second WF in the affluent areas of SA where people can actually afford to shop there - much less areas they can't.

BTW, yesterday WF announced the first layoffs in its history- all coming at its' HQ in DT Austin. Guess in these tighter times, less people can afford to shop at Whole Paycheck. I could still afford to shop there, but can't afford the gas to get over there to shop. If they would only go in at Phase 17 or whatever of the Shops at La Cantera.....

Those will have to be moved.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/p...4b_era_map.pdf

the above link is a map of HemisFair as it currently stands, with buildings color-coded by the time-period from which they came...

as you will see, there isn't much "green" space to save. and like SKW said, they'll have to move a bunch of historic structures if they hope to have any large green space at all.

the convention center will eventually expand over market street (with market being straightened where the old SAWS building rests).

hopefully, UTSA ITC will be razed, making way for a larger area that could be green space and pueposeful development.

the 2004 hemisfari master plan is on the city parks website (http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/pdf/hemisfair) and is woefully inadequete for what hardberger is trying to push through now.