The conservancy group has far surpassed its goal in just a year.
Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com
Over a year after launching a fundraising campaign for improvements to one of San Antonio’s oldest parks, the Brackenridge Conservancy Group announced Wednesday it has raised $4.7 million, which is $1.2 million over its goal. The group started fundraising in June 2021 with the hopes of raising money for park improvements, according to a news release.
The money will supplement park improvements laid out in the 2017 bond, which include the restoration of the 1878 San Antonio Water Works Pump House No. 1, its raceway, and the restoration of the 1776 Spanish Dam and Acequia.
“The overwhelming support from local companies, foundations and individuals shows just how important Brackenridge Park is to the San Antonio community,” said Lukin T. Gilliland Jr., fundraising co-chair and Brackenridge Park Conservancy vice president, in the news release.
All the improvements will take place in a six-acre north reach of Brackenridge Park, which the group says is the most sensitive area.
The BCG along with the Public Works Department and San Antonio Parks and Recreation began meetings with SWA Architects in June 2020 to design improvements to that area. Those improvements were a point of contention between the public and the city as it one point called for the removal of over 100 trees from the waterway.
The request to remove those trees have since been put on hold and will head to San Antonio’s Historic and Design Review Commission later this fall.