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| Outside the new entrance of the Henry B. González Convention Center, looking west on Market Street. |
As a San Antonio native who moved back about four years ago after growing up in Indiana, I recently started a new position working in tourism for a local nonprofit organization, Visit San Antonio.
As a representative, part of my position involves wearing a red jacket and working at the new-designed Henry B. González Convention Center as a customer service representative, providing guests with information about nearby hotels, restaurants and attractions.
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| Outside the Henry B. González Convention Center. |
Before last October, it was part of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, and all employees worked for the City of San Antonio.
Last fall, however, the City granted Visit San Antonio nonprofit status, and it's now a separate entity that benefits from the City's 9% Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT).
A 1.75% tax collected by Bexar County, a 6% state tax, as well as visitor, industry, history and preservation programs also support the City's tourism industry.
2% of the City's HOT allotment goes toward the Convention Center, which underwent a $325-expansion that was completed in January of 2016.
The Convention Center now sports a new entrance on Market Street, 514,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, the 54,000-square-foot "Stars at Night Ballroom," a 5,000-square-foot outdoor reception space for more than 700 guests, a new park stretching between the Center's west facade and Alamo Street and a direct connection to the River Walk and Hemisfair Park expansion.
It's a big deal for San Antonio because the Convention Center attracts new conventioneers, clients and tourists to downtown and the River Walk. Of the 7% of the Hotel Tax that stays in City revenues, 35% of that money is given to the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
It's an equally big deal for residents, however.
One of the things I've learned about San Antonio since returning here is the city has many sides.
The San Antonio that hosts conventions and trade shows to downtown is not the same San Antonio that attracts people to events focusing on art and history, such as the upcoming San Antonio Zine Fest from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct 7, at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.
The exhibit will showcase work by national and homegrown creators, vendors and panelists and will feature workshops for adults and kids.
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| The first official San Antonio Zine Fest poster, designed by Regina Román. |
As a painter and writer who tries to attend as many of San Antonio's homegrown shows as I can, I really hope I can make the show, but in the meantime, I've realized that working in San Antonio's hospitality industry has created a strange overlap in my professional/personal life.
I know that people who go to the Convention Center aren't necessarily going to be interested in attending a zine fest on the West side, or braving the mid-September and early October heat to see many of the nearby murals done by local artists.
San Antonio is located in a subtropical climate zone, with temperatures soaring into the nineties throughout the fall months. This makes it a fantastic challenge to convince people to venture outdoors during what are considered prime months for outdoor recreation and relaxation in cooler cities.
As a "creative native" – a term I use to describe creative people who either grew up in San Antonio or have a strong tie to the place – wanting to excel in a creative field here and touting the city's visitor appeal aren't mutually exclusive goals.
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| The new 54,000-square-foot "Stars at Night Ballroom" at the Henry B. González Convention Center. |
Romantics have described San Antonio as a city comparable to Venice or Spain, with broad, scenic vistas and the preservation of a certain mystique.
Despite these strong words, there's always a certain stigma that cities supporting tourism are transient places with little to offer residents.
The River Walk – ever the economic boon – can't seem to shake its reputation as a place for cheap, carnivalesque thrills conducive to pub crawls and one-night stands, and the highways soaring over downtown San Antonio are notorious for reckless motorists and the deterioration of the city's historic neighborhoods.
San Antonio is embroiled in constant controversy about how much should change and what should remain, and it's not difficult to fathom how a poet or a painter's rendition of San Antonio won't be the same as a businessman's.
After exploring much of the city on foot, I've realized how important it is to focus on building walkable communities in many of the neighborhood nodes of activity and to help counteract the negative effects of gentrification.
Hemisfair Park is a great example of this. Once the site of the 1968 Worlds Fair, it's become a kid and pedestrian-friendly campus with splash pads, fountains, public art, trees and shade. Architects have redesigned it to showcase the old acequía to demonstrate how it contributed to the development of the San Antonio Missions and the city's architecture.
Hemisfair has evolved with the economic and social times. Once the site of a railcar crash, the rail line is now removed. So is the zipline that once carried people over the Japanese Tea Garden in Brackenridge Park.
As individuals and companies have made careers out of safety and risk management, cities have followed suit, redesigning public spaces to make them as much an exercise in safety and urban planning as an escape.
Much has changed in San Antonio in just the last 25 to 30 years, and since moving back and experiencing life here, I've often wondered why it's so hard for people to embrace change in a city that plays host to a constant stream of national and international guests.
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| Walking along East Commerce Street in Dignowity Hill, about 10 minutes from the Convention Center. |
I've learned that as much as people want to preserve the city's historic landmarks – Alamo Plaza, for example – they also want exciting and radical change.
In late August, just days after my husband and I ventured downtown to watch a movie in Travis Park hosted by Slab Cinema, City officials removed a statue and a Confederate war memorial at its center after loud voices proclaimed it supported racism.
A move in May by the San Antonio City Council to pass the Alamo Master Plan redesigning Alamo Plaza as a public space – a plan that would involve removing vehicular traffic and repairing and relocating the Alamo Cenotaph, among other changes – has been four years in the making, if not much longer.
It ignites debate about the future of what is both a battle memorial and a major tourist attraction in the heart of the city.
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| Alamo Plaza: Tourist attraction, battle memorial, or both – and what does it mean for San Antonio? |
As I continue my work as an attaché for Visit San Antonio, I hope to see positive change that aims to keep San Antonio a unique city separate from Texas's other major metropolises but that also lives up to all the excitement it offers to visitors.
