San Antonio's $1.2 billion bond: A peek into the future of parks, libraries and public safety projects

SAN ANTONIO - We're breaking down the $1.2 billion bond program San Antonio voters approved last year and where those projects stand.

We updated you on plans for revamped streets and sidewalks here, and now, we're digging into parks, libraries, cultural facilities, and public safety measures.

Kenia Chavez and her two children are frequent visitors to city parks.

Chavez's daughter loves going down the slides, always letting her stuffed animal test out the playground equipment first.

"It's nice to see different playgrounds around San Antonio," Chavez said.

They were excited to hear that last year's bond puts almost $272 million into to building and bolstering the city's parks.

"Sometimes we all just wanna get out for a little bit, especially when the kids are out of school," Chavez said.

This is a look at the design for a new park in District 6.

Most districts are receiving portions of the bond money for park improvements or the construction of new facilities.

Most of the bond projects are still in this design phase, but Assistant City Manager Rod Sanchez says things are moving quickly.

"We'll probably have 20 or 30 projects under construction at this time next year," Sanchez said.

This is the current scene at Las Palmas Branch Library. The project is already in the construction phase.

Several libraries and cultural centers will get updates in the coming years:

• Las Palmas Branch Library Renovation & Adjacent Exterior Improvements $5,250,000
• Tower of Americas Improvements $10,000,000
• World Heritage Center Phase 2 Improvements $3,500,000
• Carver Branch Library Renovation $12,500,000
• Central Library Renovation $6,000,000
• Ella Austin Community Center Renovation LF $11,500,000
• City-Owned Cultural Facilities Improvements $6,000,000
• Magik Theater Renovation $2,750,000

More than $78 million will go toward public safety facilities too.

$17 million of that will help expand and improve veterinary facilities.

New fire stations will also be built.

"We're gonna add a brand new police substation to the Southeast side, one it's been in need of for some time," Sanchez said.

It'll be a lot of building, and pandemic-era inflation and supply shortages could create some headaches.

We asked Sanchez if he was worried about those issues at this stage in the process.

"A little bit," he said. "We are seeing some longer lead times for some materials, we're hearing that from some of our contractors."

Sanchez says it'll take careful planning to make sure the city has what they need when they need it.

Sanchez emphasized that communication will be important in letting you know when and where these projects are happening.

"We'll be able to put this out on a dashboard so that folks can see exactly what's going on with these projects," Sanchez said. "We want to be transparent."

This dashboard will be the first of its kind for a bond project. It's expected to launch this winter.

The city is still wrapping up work on the 2017 bond program.

They tell us almost all of those projects will be wrapped up by the end of this fiscal year, except the ones that continue in the new bond.

There are two exceptions though.

A project on Lone Star Boulevard is still waiting for a developer, and the city is restructuring a plan to build a multi-generational recreational facility on the Palo Alto college campus.

The next step for many of these projects will be to get your input about what you want to see in your parks and neighborhoods.

You can comment about Al Rohde Park here, Spring Time Park here, and many other projects here.