Crews were at the building on Tuesday.
SAN ANTONIO — Movement at the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures has at least one group upset.
Crews were at the downtown San Antonio building Tuesday conducting what appeared to be demolition work. Officials with the city and the Spurs are likely eying that 13.59-acre plot of land as the location for the team’s next arena as those talks get fully underway.
But the “construction” comes just a week after a lawsuit was filed by the Conservation Society of San Antonio in an attempt to delay work on the 57-year-old, 180,000-square-foot building. That’s the latest step in the society’s efforts to rally support against plans to tear it down.
The University of Texas Board of Regents in February 2024 approved handing first dibs of the 13.9-acre parcel to the City of San Antonio, which has the option to sell or lease the plot. And, in December, UTSA received permission from the state to demolish the structure amid the university’s plans to relocate the Institute of Texan Cultures museum elsewhere.
At the same time, however, officials with UTSA says work on the building isn’t what it appears to be, telling KENS 5 that this week’s work isn’t demolition but “remediation” related to asbestos abatement. UTSA said a contractor is removing some concrete panels from one side of the Texan Pavilion to access the upper floors.
But the Conservation Society of Society, isn’t convinced. The society says the state had granted UTSA a demolition permit for the building with restrictions and was expecting that work to begin in the summer.
The group plans to file a temporary restraining order to stop the work on Wednesday.