It Takes a Village to Make the River Walk Work

By Susan Yerkes

A simple stroll along the River Walk will transport you in time and in place. From the bright, art-lined banks and bridges of the Museum Reach to the cool, tropical heart of the historic channel, and on to the sunny open spaces of the Mission Reach, it is a beautiful journey.

To most of us, the River Walk is just that—a beautiful place. But insiders know that it takes a complex, carefully choreographed dance of different players to maintain this 15mile stretch of the San Antonio River that is the top tourist destination in the state. Those players are an alphabet soup of agencies—CCDO (Center City Development and Operations), SARA (San Antonio River Authority) SARF (San Antonio River Foundation, USACE (United States Army Corps of Engineers) and many more. Each plays a different, vital role.

It has not always been that way. For centuries, the river ran wild, except for the Spanish acequias drawn from it to nourish farm fields. Finally, in 1921, after a devastating flood caused millions of dollars in damage and killed at least 50 people, city fathers built the massive Olmos Dam on the river north of downtown. A century later, now owned and operated by the San Antonio River Authority with the city’s Transportation and Capital Improvements division, the dam remains the city’s first line of defense against flooding today, along with a bypass channel that protects the “horseshoe bend” of the River Walk downtown. At first, city officials planned to pave over that horseshoe bend, but a young architect name Robert

H. H. Hugman had a vision of making it an “American Venice.” Today, his vision is realized in the historic main section of the River Walk—the lively stretch through downtown lined with shops and restaurants.

Hugman’s plan took decades to realize. Business leaders and clubs staged clean-up operations, and in the 1940s crews from the Federal Works Progress Administration helped build the beautiful stone paths and bridges, the Arneson River Theatre and more. But it was not until the ‘60s that restaurants, galleries and boutiques began to open on the tree-lined banks, and the River Walk began to pop.

“That is when everything started developing; the greenscapes, then the boats, then the patio spaces…it evolved from that point on, and it is still a rolling ball,” said Lincoln St. George, Downtown Operations Director for the CCDO. St. George oversees contracts with non-profit Centro San Antonio and GO RIO, the city’s designated river barge operator. He also works with various other city departments and the San Antonio River Authority.

“We are a pretty tight family on the River Walk,” St. George said. “We have so much going on all the time. We are always on our toes about flood control and beauty and cleanliness.” While St. George’s department handles operations and maintenance for the River Walk downtown, it contracts with the River Authority to landscape and maintain the Museum Reach and the Mission Reach. The River Authority also operates the city-owned lock and dam that lifts river barges to the Museum Reach.

Keeping the lush, tree-shaded paths of the horseshoe bend blooming is a lifetime job for Joe Cruz. As Superintendent of River Walk Operations for the CCDO, Cruz and his 32 gardeners plan, plant and pamper some 300 species of plants and 40 species of trees. Working mostly from barges, these skilled gardeners use organic fertilizers and pest control to keep the river clean. From cypresses to banana palms, and Mexican firebush to philodendrons, ferns and tulips, Cruz is constantly seeking new and interesting growing things to enhance the iconic area’s distinctive atmosphere.

“Robert Hugman’s original idea was to make the River Walk look natural—not regimented lines of plants. We try to do that,” Cruz said. Recently his staff picked up a new job—landscaping the recently opened River Walk Public Art Garden that was created by the city’s Department of Arts & Culture.

As the River Walk has expanded, so has the River Authority’s work.

“The general public does not see who does this and who does that,” said SARA Watershed and Parks Operations Manager Tommy Mitchell.

“For example, our work with the city’s downtown operations and Public Works to maintain the Museum Reach. It is a cool thing to be able to cooperate—to pick up the phone and talk to Lincoln St. George and others on that higher level. We have to establish operational boundaries—it is give and take. We work with the city and Bexar County on Mission Reach, and we continue to coordinate with the Corps of Engineers to make sure we are within their guidelines, from structural issues to the riparian ecosystem and the avian corridor. We operate the dam and locks on the Museum Reach, and work with Centro San Antonio and with GO RIO.”

Mitchell is excited about a recent initiative to allow canoeing and paddleboarding on the Museum Reach on weekends. SARA’s biggest project right now, he said, is the new San Pedro Creek Culture Park. “Nothing would be possible without these partnerships—with the city, the county, the River Foundation—they give us the ability to be fluid, to accomplish things,” he said.

“The River Walk is like an onion—you keep peeling layers of bureaucracy,” said Frates Seeligson, Executive Director of the San Antonio

River Foundation. “It is good—it means a lot of people are taking care of the river.”

The foundation was born in 2003 as a nonprofit affiliated with the River Authority, to allow private investment in major public projects. The foundation took the lead on developing Confluence Park, then turned it over to the River Authority, while continuing to develop public programs there. The foundation worked closely with many agencies to create the art-enhanced bridges of the Museum Reach and Portals at the Spanish Missions. Current projects include public art on San Pedro Creek and three River Authority Park projects on the San Antonio and Medina Rivers.

“The only way we can get things done is through collaboration,” Seeligson said. “You cannot just put up a public art piece. We work with the city’s Public Art Department and Historic Design and Review Commission, Commissioners Court, the Corps of Engineers… you have to work with everyone. You have to bring everyone together to make this work.”

To make the River Walk work, “together” is the magic word.

WRITER’S BIO

Susan Yerkes is an award-winning journalist and travel writer, happily based in San Antonio.