There is some concern that the NBA franchise will move without a new arena in town.
Some of the financing of a future home of the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs franchise is now in the hands of Bexar County, Texas voters. There are two questions before the local voters as early voting starts. Proposition A: Would authorize the use of up to $192 million in county venue tax revenue for upgrades to county-owned facilities, such as Freeman Coliseum, and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo grounds. Proposition B: Would allow up to $311 million in county venue tax revenue to help fund the construction of a new downtown Spurs arena, estimated to cost at least $1.3 billion. San Antonio area political and business leaders are pushing for voters to say yes to both proposals for Project Marvel to get off the ground. Local leaders are concerned that without a new building with all sorts of revenue streams Spurs ownership might look to move to another city like Austin.
The Project Marvel plan includes renovations to the 31-year-old Alamodome. The plan also calls for the adding of 150,000 square feet to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as well as building a 20,000-square-foot University of Texas at San Antonio School of Hospitality. Additionally, if all goes according to the plan, the empty John H. Wood Federal Courthouse would be turned into a 5,000-seat concert venue. A convention center hotel would be part of Project Marvel. The price tag of Project Marvel is estimated to be around $4 billion. In the late 1990s, Spurs’ management pushed for a new arena and local voters said yes to building a new venue that opened in 2002. Local voters are being asked again to approve public funding of an arena for a private business.
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