Once the initial plans for Phase Two – Civic Park were adopted by both HPARC and the City of San Antonio as part of the overall redevelopment of Hemisfair, the next step was allocation of space. The existing layout of Market Street needed to be redirected to allow space for the new addition to the HBG Convention Center which in turn would replace the floor space lost due to the demolition of the original western section of the HBGCC which will provide the 20+ acres for the new Civic Park area at Hemisfair.
The need to have the existing layout of Market Street goes back to public workshops held by HPARC back in the spring of 2011. During this three part public process the plan materialized to have the HBBG Convention Center undergo a two part renovation: a new state of the art addition to the eastern end and demolition of the original 47 year old western section to provide space for the new Civic Park at Hemisfair.
At the time, the existing layout of Market Street featured gentle curves traversing right thru the middle of the land track where the new proposed addition would be built. To resolve this issue the city of San Antonio began the process having the existing roadway realigned to continue its parallel run to neighboring Commerce Street (removing the curves to the right) up to I37. A new 90 degree intersection was introduced along with a new highway access road running parallel to I37 reconnecting Market Street to I37, the Alamodome and Cesar Chavez Blvd. on the south side of the Hemisfair site
According to the City of San Antonio here is some of the basic information on the project:
Project Duration – 18 months
Project budget – $37.4 Million USD.
Below are some images I captured from the Tower of the Americas of the overall project. (Click on images for a closer look)
434 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX 78205
