San Antonio – The San Antonio Independent School District will reveal plans this fall for repurposing 13 school buildings that have been closed for years, as the community eagerly awaits progress on the empty structures.
Many of the school buildings, including Douglas Elementary, have remained vacant since their closures. Neighbors say the empty buildings are a disappointment.
“It’s detrimental to the city,” Angelica Gomez Mallorca said. “Other cities are repurposing old schools into apartment complexes or other uses. These buildings are still good; they just need some care.”
Teresa Garces expressed concern about the future of the buildings.
“It’s our board, and I figure it’ll be four or five years before people start living inside them or vandalizing them,” Garces said.
Gaces hopes to see them being put to good use soon.
“We need community classes in parenting, cooking and shopping,” she said.
Below is the full statement sent to KSAT when we requested an update.
“The district is working collaboratively with architectural firm, PBK, to develop a district master plan, a foundational step in both our long-term plans and the facilities repurposing process. The master plan will incorporate key data and factors such as a facility condition assessment, educational adequacy index, educational specifications and alignment, a safety assessment, city overlays, and demographic data. We anticipate the plan to be complete by the end of this summer.
The master plan will include feasibility studies for each of our closed campuses to help us identify potential repurposing opportunities. In addition, and in response to community input regarding the need for affordable housing, the district is researching the logistics of transforming former school facilities into affordable workforce housing.
We anticipate that by Fall 2025, we will be ready to formally accept facility repurposing proposals for the first phase of buildings. Until then, any organization or individual interested in learning more about partnering with us to repurpose our facilities is encouraged to contact us.
We invite community members to our next Facilities Repurposing Panel meeting on July 28. For anyone interested in attending, they may contact the SAISD Office of Strategy through our website at www.saisd.net/strategy, by email at strategy@saisd.net, or by phone at 210-354-9410. All community engagement is welcomed and valued.”
An SAISD spokesperson
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