|
News Release SA Parks and Recreation Department
Date: Dec. 10, 2008
Hike and bike trails, artwork highlight Another 2.1 miles of hike and bike trail will open to the public with fanfare on Friday, Dec. 12, at 10 a.m., with the completion of the Robert L.B. Tobin Park on the Salado Creek Greenway Loop 410 to Eisenhauer Road segment. Mayor Phil Hardberger, City Councilman John Clamp, Parks and Recreation Department Interim Director Xavier Urrutia, former Mayor Howard Peak, The Tobin Endowment Chairman and Trustee Bruce Bugg, and San Antonio Parks Foundation President Lila Cockrell are among the officials expected to attend a dedication ceremony that will include an opportunity for citizens to take an inaugural hike or bike ride along the new trails. The ceremony will take place where the $2.67 million sales-tax funded project has a trailhead off the access road of Loop 410 East between Harry Wurzbach and Starcrest. The 410-Eisenhauer segment features the work of Carlos Cortés, a third-generation artisan who works in faux bois or trabajo rústico that reproduces natural elements such as wood and thatch. Cortés is the great nephew of Dionisio Rodriguez, who brought the skill to Texas from Mexico in the 1920s. The Tobin Endowment, which donated 89 acres of land for the project, also commissioned Cortés’ work, along with a statue of Robert L.B. Tobin by Santa Fe artist Norman L. Boyles. The Tobin Endowment was established after the death of Tobin, a local philanthropist known for his charitable giving to the arts. The land donated by The Tobin Endowment was part of the Margaret Batts and Edgar Gardner Tobin farm where the family raised cattle and Tobin grew up. The San Antonio Parks Foundation participated in the project by facilitating the land donation and trailhead improvements. The creekway segment includes hike and bike trails, low-water crossings, bridge structures, pedestrian access features and signage. The 410 to Eisenhauer component is part of the larger Linear Park Development Program for Salado Creek, Leon Creek, Medina River and the San Antonio River. Voters approved sales tax funding in 2000 (Proposition 3) and 2005 (Proposition 2) for this purpose. Approximately 980 acres of property on San Antonio’s creekways have been acquired for the program with another 200 acres planned for acquisition. In addition to land acquisitions, design is complete or underway for approximately half of the projects and four additional trail segments are currently under construction. Additionally, the Parks and Recreation Department plans to have seven miles of greenway trails open to the public by the end of the year. The trails on the greenways will serve all non-motorized modes of transportation, including bicycles, rollerblades, pedestrians and wheelchairs. The ten-foot width allows for travel in two directions on paths that will be shared by pedestrian and bicycle travel.
Comments can be sent to kirvin@sanantonio.gov.
|