The MOU passed 3-2, with Commissioner Grant Moody voting against the plans and Commissioner Tommy Calvert abstaining.
SAN ANTONIO — On Tuesday, the Bexar County Commissioners Court gave its seal of approval to move forward with plans to build a new baseball stadium for the San Antonio Missions downtown.
City Council already signed off on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in September. The MOU, the city hopes, fulfills Major League Baseball’s request for a “more binding detailed commitment” that the league asked to have by Oct. 15, following local leaders’ submission of a letter of intent this summer.
Tuesday marked the last Commissioners Court meeting before that deadline.
The majority of those that publicly spoke regarding the plans supported a new baseball stadium.
“The Missions have been around in San Antonio for 136 years, and I’m hoping you will approve this so they’ll be around another 136 years,” said one resident.
A few residents from the Soap Factory Apartments expressed opposition. The Soap Factory Apartments complex would be demolished to make way for the new ballpark and surrounding development.
“I truly want the entire room to understand the heaviness of this project, and the good things do not have to come at the expense of hurting our communities and erasing one of the last affordable places to live in downtown,” one resident told the county commissioners.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai has expressed support for the baseball stadium in the past, emphasizing that the MOU is not binding.
The MOU passed 3-2, with Commissioner Grant Moody voting against the plans, and Commissioner Tommy Calvert abstaining.