McAllister Park, San Antonio, Texas. Once called the Northeast Preserve until being renamed in 1974 in honor of San Antonio’s former mayor, Walter W. McAllister. This nature preserve has been urbanized over time with the addition of a dog park, multiple soccer fields, and 16 baseball fields, privately owned by the McAllister Park Little League, which are not open to the public. Only now, even after all of this, the urban sprawl is clawing for more. The city of San Antonio has proposed selling off 68 more acres of public land from the park (in other words getting rid of the Blue Loop Vista Trail) to the Capital Park Little League and giving them the 2 million dollars of public funds in the process. So rather than doing their job and preserving what was once a nature preserve, the city is privatizing it more and more as time passes along. Is this really in the best interest of those who currently live in San Antonio and pay taxes?
I can imagine this must be quite disheartening to
anyone who is a regular hiker (like myself) or for anybody who appreciates
nature in general. Although I no longer live in San Antonio, the city still
holds a special place in my heart since it is where I was born. Back when I
lived here, McAllister Park as well as Friedrich Wilderness Park, Eisenhower
Park, Crownridge Canyon Park, and O.P. Schnabel Park, were all places I used to
hike whenever I needed to get away from the city noise. I would certainly
like a chance to visit them again without the worry of whether they might be
privatized and destroyed for petty profit.
This proposed sale of public land does not surprise me however. Texas has certainly not been the golden boy of nature conservation. I still remember seeing miles of land torn away from Crownridge Canyon Park throughout my childhood while hiking there; where mansions were built and stood unoccupied for years. Just another failed attempt by overindulgent real-estate companies looking to make a profit off of the incoming California invasion (although the real-estate companies cannot take the full blame since it is the city, after all, who gave them the authorization to begin carving into the surrounding wilderness).
I understand the Capital Park Little League is now in search of a new home, but they need to realize that McAllister Park is also a home for the surrounding wildlife, hikers, mountain bikers, birdwatchers etc., who should not be forced to forego the Blue Loop Vista Trail. McAllister Park is already home to 16 baseball fields, so why can’t the McAllister Park Little League at least share a few of them with the Capital Park Little League? McAllister Park was originally intended to be a nature preserve, not a ballpark.
In my opinion, the final decision should be up to the citizens of San Antonio rather than public officials. But since it is not, be sure to contact the following individuals if this is not a proposed change you are in favor of:
Mayor Ivy Taylor: mayor.ivytaylor@sanantonio.gov
Xavier Urrutia, COSA Parks Director: Xavier.Urrutia@sanantonio.gov
Councilman Mike Gallagher: district10@sanantonio.gov
Paul Jimenez, Gallagher Chief of Staff: Paul.Jimenez@sanantonio.gov
Luisa Casso, Co-chair Parks Bond Committee: lcasso@coca-cola.com
Brian Dillard, Co-chair Parks Bond Committee: briancdillard@gmail.com
Homer Garcia, COSA Parks: Homer.garcia@sanantonio.gov
Also, please sign Don Losole's petition on Change.org if this is not a proposed change you are in favor of: https://www.change.org/p/sheryl-sculley-save-mcall...
