Planning for a “museum of trees” on the South Side began Wednesday morning under a canopy of oaks, cedar elm, and mesquite, with local officials unveiling the business chosen to create Arboretum San Antonio.
Following a protracted bidding process, the arboretum’s board of directors selected the landscape architecture arm of Boston-based design company Sasaki to create a master plan for the 188-acre tree sanctuary at the former Republic Golf Course, 4226 S.E. Military Dr.
“There are a handful of firms in the country, in the world, who are experts at building open space and designing it with excellence,” said former mayor Henry Cisneros, who founded Arboretum San Antonio. “We chose the one that we think best fits this site and San Antonio.”
Cisneros made the news alongside other local authorities, including Mayor Ron Nirenberg and County Judge Peter Sakai, against a pastoral background of land acquired for the arboretum in late 2023.
He described the site as “providential,” citing its established cart pathways, fairways, and native trees as the ideal basis for the arboretum. Salado Creek runs along the western perimeter of the former golf course, which closed in 2020.
“It’s just already gorgeous, almost ready for prime time, but this master plan will get us there,” he said.
Sasaki was chosen from among 19 firms that responded to the 2023 request for qualifications, as well as three firms that were encouraged to submit bids, according to Arboretum San Antonio CEO Tom Corser.
Sasaki’s various landscaping projects include one for the National Park Service in 2012 to improve accessibility and security at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in the nation’s capital.
According to Corser, the business stood out because it insisted on a community involvement phase during the 12-month, four-phase master planning process.
Anna Cawrse, landscape architect and co-director of Sasaki’s Denver office, is leading the project for the company.
“Working on an arboretum project from the ground up is something a landscape architect dreams of, but being on site here was incredible.” Cawrse spoke. “The magic was visible; it was tangible. You could see the cathedral of trees, and Salado Creek was inundated. We saw hogs, saw a hummingbird nest, and ate delicious meals.”
Arboretum
More than a park
On Wednesday, Corser and others offered tours of the idyllic location while barred owls barked and the July morning air was calm. Paved golf cart pathways wind through gently rolling meadows surrounded by centuries-old live oaks and rich greenery nourished by small ponds and running waterways.
A low bridge shaded by mulberry and cypress trees provides views of the cool and trickling creekbed before leading to a climb with serene views of pristine countryside and majestic oaks.
According to Cawrse, a team from Sasaki is already on-site cataloging the trees and plants. They also carry an instrument for measuring natural sounds and the peacefulness they wish to preserve while developing and building the arboretum.
In one area of the site, a nursery of 140 young trees is already growing side by side, having been planted in one day by a group of volunteers.
In 2022, county commissioners approved investing $7.3 million to acquire 18 acres of land and fund the arboretum’s master planning, design, and construction. For $1 million, the Brooks Development Authority purchased an additional 170 acres in the floodplain.
Sakai stated that the arboretum’s mission is to promote health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, economic growth, community, and education, as well as “equitable access to nature.”
“Our children need nature and wide open space more than ever,” he stated.
Corser quickly clarifies that the arboretum is neither a park or botanical garden. “This is a place for the ecosystem to nurture itself,” he said, teaching a crucial lesson about nature’s life cycles.
He also compared it to the proposed Great Springs Project, a 100-mile network of hike-and-bike paths connecting San Antonio and Austin for both recreational and conservation purposes.
Project funding
On Wednesday, many organizations gave checks to the arboretum initiative. Brooks contributed $100,000, CPS Energy contributed $150,000, and the nature-focused Hollomon Price Foundation provided a contribution of $200,000.
Corser stated that $1.5 million has already been raised to cover the master plan process, with a goal of $2.5 million. When that objective is attained, the nonprofit arboretum team hopes to seek funding to cover the space’s operational expenditures.
The National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., a nearly century-old arboretum that houses the Grove of State Trees, has an annual budget of $11 million and 650,000 visitors.
Nirenberg stated that the City of San Antonio will give $400,000 to a tree nursery at Arboretum San Antonio, claiming that while the city has many different sorts of green spaces, one is missing.
“We have city parks, we have county parks, we have neighborhood parks where children and families can enjoy the outdoors — they’re all different,” Nirenberg stated. “We even have nature areas where we don’t want too many people trampling the ground. We don’t have a space, a theater, or a tree museum. “That is the arboretum.”
