It has been one of the great pleasures of my career in public relations to play a minor role in what is arguably the most critical economic development and habitat restoration project our city has undertaken in a generation. On Saturday, May 31, we helped the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) celebrate the opening of the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River Improvement Project (SARIP), a 1.3 mile segment of the San Antonio River stretching north from Lexington Avenue to the Pearl Brewery.
There are innumerable positive aspects, attributes and opportunities associated with the project…all have been written about by the media or waxed upon eloquently by our elected officials. I want to share personally what this process has looked like from my ever-so-slightly inside view, and convey how fulfilling it is to see our city accomplish this tremendous challenge.
Our first involvement with the SARIP came in 2002 when we facilitated a series of public meetings for the design teams who had just begun to create the vision of what the river would become. Working for SARA and the Army Corps of Engineers, we organized meetings from north to south, inviting the diverse neighborhoods and varied property owners who held some sort of a stake in the future of the river.
Though I’ve been involved over the years in similar public outreach efforts, none have equaled the level of participation, passion or amount of feedback we observed and recorded at these meetings. Modest homeowners sat side by side with enthusiastic bird watchers, sophisticated developers and the owners of junkyards and parking lots. These meetings brought together a cross section of San Antonio was truly reflective of the river itself: cutting across all boundaries — race, socio-economic level, north/south affiliations, education, politics, religion and more.
People talked openly about what they wanted to see on “their” river: more opportunities for recreation, more birds, more hike and bike trails, more access for the disabled, more opportunity for tourism-centric development. Those with little economic or social clout were given no less an opportunity to speak than the developers, municipalities and large property owners who sat next to them.
What emerged from this process was a community-driven vision that the design team used to create a plan for the river’s redevelopment. In the nearly seven years since, the design plans have seen countless alterations due to budget cuts, engineering challenges, aesthetic differences of opinion, vocal critics and the whims of various elected officials. But what occurred to me last weekend, as I took a quiet barge ride with my family along the Museum Reach, is how much of that original vision has survived.
Though the water was only returned to the river a week before, already there were herons and egrets wading along the banks and in the lovely, limestone-bordered “wetlands.” Families were utilizing the many access ramps to push strollers and wheel chairs down to river level. The San Antonio Museum of Art’s river landing and the various public art projects brought residents and tourists alike new levels of access to the arts. And the lock and dam was ferrying river boats farther north than ever before on the San Antonio River.
So many of those original wishes, concerns, fears and dreams are truly reflected in the Museum Reach. I’m sure there are some who will complain or find fault….but I don’t think there will be many. The Museum Reach is truly a gift to this city from this city…a realization of the best we can be.
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Mary, thanks for this recap. Our online agency had a small part in publicizing the project and San Antonio River Foundation’s role, and each member of our team shares the pride and satisfaction you describe so well.
Congratulations to all the KGB folks who worked hard to get the word out for SARA, with special honors going to Andi Narvaez for her work in social media. It’s so gratifying to see the renderings we’ve been seeing come so beautifully to life.