TheWriter
10-13-2005, 02:12 AM
SBC Center plan calls for more planning
Web Posted: 10/13/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Elizabeth Allen
Express-News Staff Writer
After hearing two competing presentations, Bexar County commissioners decided Wednesday to go with the EDAW/Kell Muņoz Architects group to devise a master plan for the SBC Center grounds.
But the selection process, like the eventual plan itself, won't be a simple one.
After discussion with officials of the Spurs and San Antonio Livestock Exposition, who preferred a firm with the competing group, commissioners voted to create a committee that will oversee fine-tuning of the planning team before the planning itself even begins.
"We're trying to keep everybody happy," said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, "but there's limits with trying to do that, because we're trying to move this project on."
The goal is to redesign the existing arena grounds, including outside property if necessary, to create a multi-use complex around the SBC Center.
But with that goal comes numerous ideas and possible partnerships with developers, the city, the state and even the federal government.
County officials would like to see a plan that would build on the Stock Show & Rodeo's agricultural tradition, lure industrial trade shows the Convention Center can't easily accommodate, and take advantage of the SBC Center, which will not be changed. The slew of barns and outbuildings and even the 55-year-old, concrete-and-steel Freeman Coliseum is fair game.
And so is the outlying property. The county's request for proposals included the possibility of buying more land around the East Side property, and for planning purposes, officials and developers agree that the city's adjacent Willow Springs Golf Course is a key component.
The second presenters, a consortium including planning firms Ellerbe Becket and Bullock, Smith & Partners and local architect Saldana & Associates, had some technical troubles that left commissioners frustrated.
But livestock exposition Executive Director Keith Martin and Spurs Sports & Entertainment Executive Vice President Rick Pych praised Bullock, Smith's work on facilities that could accommodate anything from horse shows to bowling lanes.
So commissioners created the seven-member oversight committee in part to see if the first group can persuade Bullock, Smith or somebody like them to participate.
"We're strongly encouraging them to engage that firm at least for some insight," said Commissioner Lyle Larson, a committee member.
Kell Muņoz CEO Henry Muņoz said he is familiar with Bullock, Smith, and would be open to working with that firm if it's not prohibited by some agreement with Ellerbe Becket.
"I would welcome it," he said. "We love associations. We always learn from them."
While the presentations were focused on selling the planning teams, the slides offered by EDAW and Kell Muņoz included a sketch of an SBC Center anchoring a massive sports complex with stadiums for professional baseball and football and a NASCAR track, spilling over into what is now the golf course.
The concept mirrors one floated to city and county officials and others in the community by Dan and Marlene Bailey, Los Angeles-based developers who have been shopping proposals for a megaproject close to the arenas complex and encompassing the golf course.
But people have been cautious about the Baileys' plan since it was reported that Dan Bailey served time in federal prison during the late 1980s for fraud.
Wolff talked about eventually working with nearby property owner Bill Tidwell, the city and other agencies, but didn't mention the Baileys' plan.
Afterward, Wolff said he wasn't really interested in the sports megaplex concept.
"We want to focus first on the doable stuff," Wolff said. "We need the grand plan, but we need to have the piece in place that we know we can do."
Muņoz said the slide was just a brainstorming sketch. He said he has spoken with the Baileys, along with other potential players in the community, but that "we don't work for the Baileys."
District 2 Councilwoman Sheila McNeil, whom Wolff invited to join commissioners on the dais, preferred the EDAW/Kell Muņoz plan.
"The people who are involved in that group have a long and strong relationship with the constituents around the SBC Center," McNeil said, noting former Mayor Ed Garza's participation as a new EDAW employee and Kell Muņoz's work on a nearby school. "That master plan is going to spill over to the community at large."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA101305.01B.Arena.181b7d90.html
Web Posted: 10/13/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Elizabeth Allen
Express-News Staff Writer
After hearing two competing presentations, Bexar County commissioners decided Wednesday to go with the EDAW/Kell Muņoz Architects group to devise a master plan for the SBC Center grounds.
But the selection process, like the eventual plan itself, won't be a simple one.
After discussion with officials of the Spurs and San Antonio Livestock Exposition, who preferred a firm with the competing group, commissioners voted to create a committee that will oversee fine-tuning of the planning team before the planning itself even begins.
"We're trying to keep everybody happy," said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, "but there's limits with trying to do that, because we're trying to move this project on."
The goal is to redesign the existing arena grounds, including outside property if necessary, to create a multi-use complex around the SBC Center.
But with that goal comes numerous ideas and possible partnerships with developers, the city, the state and even the federal government.
County officials would like to see a plan that would build on the Stock Show & Rodeo's agricultural tradition, lure industrial trade shows the Convention Center can't easily accommodate, and take advantage of the SBC Center, which will not be changed. The slew of barns and outbuildings and even the 55-year-old, concrete-and-steel Freeman Coliseum is fair game.
And so is the outlying property. The county's request for proposals included the possibility of buying more land around the East Side property, and for planning purposes, officials and developers agree that the city's adjacent Willow Springs Golf Course is a key component.
The second presenters, a consortium including planning firms Ellerbe Becket and Bullock, Smith & Partners and local architect Saldana & Associates, had some technical troubles that left commissioners frustrated.
But livestock exposition Executive Director Keith Martin and Spurs Sports & Entertainment Executive Vice President Rick Pych praised Bullock, Smith's work on facilities that could accommodate anything from horse shows to bowling lanes.
So commissioners created the seven-member oversight committee in part to see if the first group can persuade Bullock, Smith or somebody like them to participate.
"We're strongly encouraging them to engage that firm at least for some insight," said Commissioner Lyle Larson, a committee member.
Kell Muņoz CEO Henry Muņoz said he is familiar with Bullock, Smith, and would be open to working with that firm if it's not prohibited by some agreement with Ellerbe Becket.
"I would welcome it," he said. "We love associations. We always learn from them."
While the presentations were focused on selling the planning teams, the slides offered by EDAW and Kell Muņoz included a sketch of an SBC Center anchoring a massive sports complex with stadiums for professional baseball and football and a NASCAR track, spilling over into what is now the golf course.
The concept mirrors one floated to city and county officials and others in the community by Dan and Marlene Bailey, Los Angeles-based developers who have been shopping proposals for a megaproject close to the arenas complex and encompassing the golf course.
But people have been cautious about the Baileys' plan since it was reported that Dan Bailey served time in federal prison during the late 1980s for fraud.
Wolff talked about eventually working with nearby property owner Bill Tidwell, the city and other agencies, but didn't mention the Baileys' plan.
Afterward, Wolff said he wasn't really interested in the sports megaplex concept.
"We want to focus first on the doable stuff," Wolff said. "We need the grand plan, but we need to have the piece in place that we know we can do."
Muņoz said the slide was just a brainstorming sketch. He said he has spoken with the Baileys, along with other potential players in the community, but that "we don't work for the Baileys."
District 2 Councilwoman Sheila McNeil, whom Wolff invited to join commissioners on the dais, preferred the EDAW/Kell Muņoz plan.
"The people who are involved in that group have a long and strong relationship with the constituents around the SBC Center," McNeil said, noting former Mayor Ed Garza's participation as a new EDAW employee and Kell Muņoz's work on a nearby school. "That master plan is going to spill over to the community at large."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA101305.01B.Arena.181b7d90.html