Scottish Rite moves to evict San Antonio Philharmonic a year after orchestra vowed to make site its permanent home

Then-Scottish Rite Board Chairman Richard Park (left) and San Antonio Philharmonic Executive Director Roberto Trevino sign paperwork last year enabling the orchestra to share use of the Scottish Rite Temple’s auditorium. Credit: Sanford Nowlin

San Antonio’s Scottish Rite fraternal order has given the San Antonio Philharmonic until Friday, Nov. 28 to vacate the group’s historic downtown building, a letter obtained by Current shows.

The document signals a possible split between the two organizations after they reached an agreement a little more than a year ago to make the imposing 1924 structure and its 2,200-seat auditorium the orchestra’s permanent home.

Most of the Philharmonic’s musicians previously served in the now-defunct San Antonio Symphony, the Tobin Center’s resident arts organization. However, the performance space never offered a return invitation to the new orchestra, forcing it to rent out performance spaces until it inked a deal with the Scottish rite in October 2024.

James Carter IV, the attorney for the Scottish Rite whose name appears on the order to vacate, declined comment.

Philharmonic Executive Director Roberto Treviño said he wasn’t at liberty to discuss the letter other than to say the orchestra’s attorney is in talks with Carter.

“The attorneys for both sides are talking, and the communication is good,” said Treviño, a former San Antonio city councilman. “We hope to have a statement soon clearing this up.”

While the letter states the Philharmonic can no longer “use or occupy” the building after this Friday, it does allow the orchestra to rent the auditorium for its scheduled concerts on Dec. 12 and 13 as well as Jan. 16 and 17. To do so, the arts organization would be required to pay a flat fee of $2,000 per performance at least three days in advance.

The document also states that the Philharmonic can continue to use the building for practice sessions at a cost of $300 for up to four hours.

Both the fees for the performances and practice sessions are below market rates, according to the letter, and are “offered to help facilitate your transition to a new location.”

The notice doesn’t state what issues have come up between the Scottish Rite and the Philharmonic, who trumpeted the agreement during a public ceremony last fall as a win-win situation that would benefit the local arts community.

“One of our main tenets is to promote public education of the arts. That’s what this building was built for, and that’s what happened here for half a century,” said Robert Park, then-board chairman for the San Antonio Scottish Rite chapter told the Current at the time. “I’m glad that it’s happening again.”

During the signing ceremony, Treviño told the Current that an architecture firm estimates the auditorium would need $5 million to $10 million upgrades to become a long-term home for the Philharmonic and could require some $50 million in improvements over the longer term.

At the time, Treviño said the Philharmonic would seek local, state and federal funding to conduct the upgrades and launch a capital campaign to pull in additional money from donors.

However, it’s unclear what improvements have occurred at the aging building since then.

Temporary heating and cooling equipment has been in use at some recent Philharmonic performances, and the structure still appears to be working toward meeting full Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

What’s more, the Philharmonic remains embroiled in multiple lawsuits over who controls its operations. Last year, Treviño told the Current that the organization had been “impacted financially” by the ongoing court cases, which led to the postponement of at least two performances last fall.

Last month, the Philharmonic postponed its Classics III concerts, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 7-8, marking the second time one of the orchestra’s fall 2025 events has been rescheduled for a later date.

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Scottish Rite moves to evict San Antonio Philharmonic a year after orchestra vowed to make site its permanent home

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