Bigger theater would overrun park
Most city residents remain in the dark about the impacts of the plan to reinvent the Sunken Garden Theater in Brackenridge Park and turn it into a stadium-style concert venue for up to 7,000 people.
A City Council vote is anticipated this month to decide whether to move the plan forward with the city bond election in May.
The Brackenridge Park Conservancy is engaging in a project counter to its mission statement of safeguarding the park’s “natural, historic, educational and recreational resources for the enjoyment of current and future generations.”
The conservancy has said 48 to 60 concerts must be hosted between April and October to be financially self-sustaining. This would mean two or three concerts a week during that time. The conservancy has also estimated annual attendance of 185,000 to 230,000.
Under this proposal, Brackenridge Park will be overrun with thousands of drivers, disrupting neighborhoods, park visitors and wildlife.
This raises serious questions. What is the motivation for such a dramatic increase in the scale of the venue? Why not renovate and improve the theater rather than supersize it, especially since there is a similar venue just 17 miles away — the Real Life Amphitheater — in Selma reopening this spring and summer? What does this mean for other struggling large performance venues in the city? And what happens if the new Sunken Garden
Theater fails to meet its target of 48 to 60 concerts per year?
The plan also creates inequity in our most treasured centrally located park. It discourages city residents from casually visiting the park, as they have for generations. Limited parking and traffic would prioritize ticket holders above all others.
If realized, the proposal will result in a threat to public safety, with traffic backed up throughout the area, including U.S. 281, North St. Mary’s Street, Mulberry Avenue, Hildebrand Avenue and Broadway.
It’s also bad news for downtown commuters, businesses, and students and staff at Trinity, University of the Incarnate Word and San Antonio College.
Constant amplification will create damaging noise pollution. With the zoo next door, how would the weekly concerts impact wildlife?
Residents of River Road, Tobin Hill, Monte Vista, Mahncke Park, Alamo Heights and Olmos Park would be forced to listen to it, too.
Simply put, the Park Conservancy and developers have not sought widespread public input. And traffic, parking, wildlife or sound impact studies have not been shared with the public.
Public participation and engagement should be included in any such plan before it is presented to city leadership. I urge residents to write members of City Council to prevent this ill-conceived plan from damaging our treasured park and severely impacting thousands of lives in our beautiful city.