Sites for New SA Fed Courthouse Narrowed

[TXlifeguard]

As long as it doesnt limit ped and river traffic, I kinda like the idea of the river site. The river stretch through DT is ecclectic if anything, you have retail, office, hospitality, and residential; all fronting the river in that small two mile stretch of river. I dont see how the courthouse would be all that different. I understand that stretch of the river is believed to be more residential overall, but that is a bit of a stretch considering that the neighbor property on one side is the Aresenal, HEB's corporate HQ complex, and on the other side is the La Cascada/Fairfield mid-rise residential tower. So its a bit of a stretch for Ms. Morrison to make it sound all that residential, like the GSA was trying to plunk the courthouse down in the middle of the Great Northwest subdivision or something. You've got King William there, sure, but the Pioneer Flower Mill, and Blue Star are just on the other side of KW as a bookend. Also Univision is right across the river from this site, so if the KW folks can deal with all that, why cant they deal with the courthouse. I'm not saying they cant, I'm just saying if they raise the argument, they'll have to do better than that.

If done right, it has the potential to be a showpiece on the river. Its a pretty good size site, so if they set the building back far enough, they could use the space along the river as great public space, even complete with outdoor eating areas for a cafe or something located in the building. That setback would fulfill the feds requirement for a setback from river traffic. Make the building structure visually connect with the river with lots of windows, balconies, and some Texas limestone on the lower levels, glass on the upper levels. But it's one of those projects that would have to be done right, because it would either be great, or hideous.

To me it sounds like Ms. Morrison dropped a half mil on her property and doesnt like the concept of eminent domain, so yet again, as history so often repeats itself here in SA, one person is putting their personal wishes ahead of the greater good. We'll be able to add Ms. Morrison's name to that great list of 'to hell with the rest of you all, it's about ME, damnit!' kooks that includes folks like 'No fluoride in the water, I don't care how many kids teeth fall out' Kay Turner, and 'I don't care how bad 281 traffic gets because I homeschool my kids and rarely have to leave the house all that often anyhow' Teri Hall.

The police site would work I guess, depending on how it sits on the site there. They could take over the entire block and put some building bulk at the corner of Flores & Nueva where the city parking garage is, and then rebuild a much larger garage with the city, behind the complex. That would add some nice density in proximity to the Bexar County Justice Center and put it more into downtown. Plus it would expand the parking garage that everyone says isnt big enough.

[TXlifeguard]

(For some reason I cant edit my posts from firefox)

I also forgot to call bullsh*t on TJ Connely's claim that it would mess with river traffic. The site sits about two block downstream from the damn that keeps water in the river bend and horseshoe sections of the riverwalk. It's about a 20 foot drop, so there wouldn't be any boat traffic in that section of the river anyhow. There's another dam about a quarter mile downstream (behind Blue-Star) where the river leaves the channel and returns to the more creek-like environment. I've never seen boats in that stretch of the river and it wouldnt be profitable to have them there anyhow. So TJ is using emotion to get people on his side. Sleazy, but effective. How many people know where that dam is and that there isnt any river traffic on that section now anyway? Probably about 15.

[sirkingwilliam]

I just prefer the police site because it will then mean a new modern police station else where downtown. I hate the Hemisfair Park idea because I think they should level all those buildings and build a real park. Tear down Texan Cultures and build elsewhere, maybe River North. Imagine if Hemisfair were transformed into an actual urban park.