By Molly Smith, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-02-26 18:41:55
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
效果图首次展示了市中心体育娱乐区可能的样子。它可能包括一座新的马刺队球馆、翻新的阿拉莫巨蛋体育场、扩建的亨利·B·冈萨雷斯会议中心、另一家带有圣安东尼奥德克萨斯大学酒店管理学院的会议中心酒店，以及改造为活动场地的约翰·H·伍德联邦法院，以及设施之间的混合用途开发和公园。
市议会正在权衡是否在11月要求选民批准一项债券，以支付一个由新的马刺队球馆为主体的拟议市中心体育娱乐区的道路、人行道、公用设施和停车场费用。
这比城市官员去年年底首次公开宣布这项数十亿美元的项目计划时所说的时间要早。当时，助理城市经理洛瑞·休斯顿(Lori Houston)表示，基础设施资金可能会包含在2027年5月举行的下一次城市常规债券计划中。
根据周三提交给市议会的演示文稿，可以在“近期”完成的三个区域项目是马刺队球馆、会议中心扩建以及将半球公园的前约翰·H·伍德小联邦法院改造成活动收入来源。
仅这些项目就可能耗资略高于20亿美元——这还是官员们预测的低端。该估计包括城市可能需要花费6000万美元从圣安东尼奥德克萨斯大学手中收购半球公园的德克萨斯文化研究所所在地，该地是球馆的计划选址。
但城市首席财务官本·戈泽尔(Ben Gorzell)表示，体育娱乐区的一个重要组成部分——“阿拉莫巨蛋体育场的重大改造”——至少要到2035年才能实现。
戈泽尔说，翻新这座拥有30年历史的体育场，使其能够与符合NCAA举办男女篮球四强赛或大学橄榄球季后赛新要求的较新设施竞争，将耗资超过10亿美元。
城市官员此前曾表示，阿拉莫巨蛋体育场的重大翻新工程必须等到体育场在2029年春季举办NCAA女子篮球四强赛之后才能进行。11月提交给市议会的演示文稿指出，阿拉莫巨蛋体育场的翻新工程可能会在2030年开始，并在2033年完成。
戈泽尔说：“会议中心（扩建）耗资7亿至9亿美元，近期花费超过10亿美元进行巨蛋体育场的改造是不可行的。”
戈泽尔说，相反，该市将在至少未来十年内“满足阿拉莫巨蛋体育场运营的资本需求”。
城市经理埃里克·沃尔什(Erik Walsh)说，该市还将寻找“对该建筑进行有针对性的投资”的方法，以增加体育场的收入，该市可以用这笔钱来翻新体育场。
沃尔什说，在未来两年内，NCAA将决定哪些城市将在2036年和2037年举办男女篮球四强赛，圣安东尼奥希望“确保我们保持轮换地位”。
11月选票措施
周三是自去年11月以来，市议会首次公开听取有关城市官员代号为“惊奇计划”（Project Marvel）的区域项目的简报。
官员们希望会议中心的扩建工程在2028年开始。他们没有向市议会提供球馆或伍德大楼的计划开工日期，也没有提供拟议的第二家会议中心酒店或连接东区和球馆的37号州际公路上的潜在陆桥的日期。
城市官员尚未为可能成为11月债券计划一部分的区域相关基础设施设定价格标签。
周三，市议员们推动在2025年的债券计划中纳入经济适用房资金，以及用于改善体育娱乐区周边社区的资金。
马刺队高管以及市和贝克萨尔县官员正在努力在11月大选的时间框架内举行县选举，以筹集县酒店和租车税款用于球馆建设。
沃尔什说，球馆的造价可能在12亿至15亿美元之间。该数字基于城市估计，而不是马刺体育娱乐公司提供的数据。他说，特许经营权将贡献的金额仍然未知。
已知的是，根据提供给市议会的简报文件，马刺队不打算在他们的租约于2032年9月到期时留在县政府拥有的霜冻银行中心。
一些人推测，如果新的球馆没有建成，球队可能会离开这座城市。沃尔什周三表示，如果未建成此类设施，球队并未向他表示有任何离开圣安东尼奥的意图。
市议会推动公开更新
许多市议员批评了“惊奇计划”细节缺乏透明度，包括估计的设施成本以及该市愿意为马刺队建造新家园提供的金额。
第六区市议员梅丽莎·卡贝罗·哈夫达(Melissa Cabello Havrda)说：“公众甚至一些市议会成员都觉得我们被蒙在鼓里，”她是五月份市长选举的候选人。
第七区市议员玛丽娜·阿尔德雷特·加维托(Marina Alderete Gavito)告诉市政府工作人员，她认为在向居民“宣传这个项目的方式上存在问题”。这包括担心该市是否仍然能够支付其社区的基础设施改善费用。
阿尔德雷特·加维托补充说：“这个项目对于市中心来说是令人兴奋和具有变革意义的。”
市议员们一致要求工作人员定期向公众汇报有关体育娱乐区的市议会简报。第三区市议员菲利斯·比亚格朗(Phyllis Viagran)表示，她希望每月举行一次关于“惊奇计划”的公开会议，而第九区市议员约翰·库拉格(John Courage)建议每季度更新一次。
比亚格朗说，她希望马刺队高管和县政府官员能够出席这些简报会，以及任何居民可以分享他们的反馈和担忧的社区会议。
县政府没有人在周三的市议会会议上出席。马刺体育娱乐公司首席法律顾问鲍比·佩雷斯(Bobby Perez)代表该特许经营权出席了会议。
近几个月来，SS&E拒绝回应有关球馆的采访请求。
佩雷斯告诉市议会：“我们可以承诺参加未来的公开对话。”
点击查看原文：Infrastructure bond for Project Marvel could be on November’s ballot
Infrastructure bond for Project Marvel could be on November’s ballot
A rendering gives a first look at what a downtown sports and entertainment district could look like. It could involve a new arena for the Spurs, renovated Alamodome, an expanded Henry B. Gonz?lez Convention Center, another Convention Center hotel with a hospitality school for the University of Texas at San Antonio and the John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse refashioned as an event venue as well as mixed-use development and parks between the facilities.
The City Council is weighing whether to ask voters in November to approve a bond to pay for the roads, sidewalks, utilities and parking for a proposed downtown sports and entertainment district anchored by a new Spurs arena.
That’s earlier than city officials said when they first publicly unveiled their plans for the multibillion-dollar project late last year. At that time, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston said the infrastructure dollars could be included in the city’s next regular bond program in May 2027.
The three district projects that could be completed in the “near term” are the Spurs arena, a Convention Center expansion and repurposing the former John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse at Hemisfair into an event revenue, according to a presentation shown to council on Wednesday.
Those projects alone could cost slightly over $2 billion — and that’s on the low end of officials’ projections. That estimate includes the $60 million it could cost the city to acquire the Institute of Texan Cultures site at Hemisfair from the University of Texas at San Antonio, which is the planned location for the arena.
But a major component of the sports and entertainment district — “a major transformation of the Alamodome” — won’t happen until at least 2035, said Ben Gorzell, the city’s chief financial officer.
Renovating the 30-year-old stadium so it can compete with newer facilities that meet the NCAA’s new requirements for hosting the men or women’s Final Four or college football playoffs would cost more than $1 billion, Gorzell said.
City officials had previously said a major Alamodome renovation would have to wait until after the stadium hosts the NCAA Women’s Final Four in spring 2029. A presentation given to the City Council in November noted that the Alamodome renovation could begin in 2030 and wrap up by 2033.
“With the Convention Center (expansion) in the space of $700 to $900 million, doing the Dome in the near term at something over $1 billion isn’t feasible,” Gorzell said.
Instead, the city will “take care of the capital requirements to support the operations of the Alamodome” for at least the next decade, Gorzell said.
It will also look for ways of making “targeted investments into the building” to increase stadium revenue, which the city could use to renovate it, City Manager Erik Walsh said.
Within the next two years, the NCAA will decide which cities will host its men’s and women’s Final Fours in 2036 and 2037, Walsh said, and San Antonio wants “to make sure that we stay in the rotation.”
November ballot measures
Wednesday was the first public briefing on the district, which city officials code-named Project Marvel, that the council had received since November.
Officials want the Convention Center expansion to begin in 2028. They did not provide the council with their intended start dates for the arena or the Wood building, or the dates for a proposed second Convention Center hotel or potential land bridge over Interstate 37 connecting the East Side to the arena.
City officials have yet to put a price tag on the district-related infrastructure that could be part of a November bond program.
Council members on Wednesday pushed for including affordable housing funding in a 2025 bond program, as well as money for improvements in neighborhoods surrounding the sports and entertainment district.
The November general election is also the timeline that Spurs executives and city and Bexar County officials are working toward for holding a county election to raise county hotel and rental car tax dollars for the arena.
The arena could cost between $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, Walsh said. That figure is based on city estimates, not on numbers provided by Spurs Sports & Entertainment. The amount the franchise will contribute is still unknown, he said.
What is known is that the Spurs do not intend to stay at the county-owned Frost Bank Center when their lease expires in September 2032, according to briefing documents provided to council.
Some have speculated that the team could leave the city if a new arena isn’t built. Walsh said Wednesday that the franchise has not indicated to him any intention of leaving San Antonio if such a facility is not built.
Council push for public updates
A number of council members criticized the lack of transparency around details of Project Marvel, including the estimated facility costs and the amount the city is willing to contribute toward building the Spurs a new home.
“The public and even some of the City Council feel like we’ve been left in the dark,” said District 6 Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda, a candidate for mayor in May’s election.
District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito told city staff that she believed there has been “an issue with how we are messaging this project” to residents. That includes concerns about whether the city would still be able to pay for infrastructure improvements in their neighborhoods.
“This project is exciting and transformational for downtown,” Alderete Gavito added.
Council members were united in their request for staff to give regular public council briefings on the sports and entertainment district. District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran said she wanted public meetings on Project Marvel every month, while District 9 Councilman John Courage suggested quarterly updates.
Viagran said she wants Spurs executives and county officials to be present at these briefings, as well as at any community meetings where residents could share their feedback and concerns.
No one from the county was present at Wednesday’s council meeting. Bobby Perez, the chief legal counsel for Spurs Sports & Entertainment, was there on behalf of the franchise.
In recent months, SS&E has declined to respond to requests for interviews about the arena.
“We can commit to participating in future public conversations,” Perez told the council.
By Molly Smith, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News