San Antonio ISD and Bexar County are partnering on two developments in the Fox Tech High School campus area: the first BiblioTech EDU collaboration, and a new parking garage with access to the San Pedro Creek area. The developments will benefit both the District and the public.
The SAISD Trustees approved both proposals at the Nov. 18 Board meeting. The Bexar County Commissioners Court approved the parking garage proposal at their Nov. 19 meeting and the BiblioTech EDU proposal at their meeting this past June.
BiblioTech EDU, a new iteration of the county’s digital library, will serve as a model for public and school library collaboration. Under the agreement, the county will invest approximately $2.7 million to redesign and renovate the existing 8,400-square-foot library at Fox Tech into a 21st-century flexible collaborative learning commons (see concept drawings below). The opening is targeted for 2021.
“The building of the BiblioTech EDU on the shared campus of Fox Tech, CAST Tech and the Advanced Learning Academy, is a new venture for us,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. “The new BiblioTech EDU will include a makerspace, robotics lab, recording studio, a children’s room, as well as e-books and e-readers. We believe that our service as a school and public library will enhance the education of the nearly 1,600 students on campus, as well as local residents, and be a model for public partnerships in communities throughout the country.”
BiblioTech EDU will primarily serve students in grades 4-12 from the three schools housed on the Fox Tech campus: the Advanced Learning Academy, CAST Tech High School and Fox Tech High School.
During the school hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., BiblioTech EDU will serve as the campus hub for instruction, research and learning enrichment programs for students and their families. BiblioTech EDU will offer SAISD a digital library collection to support curricular programs, and will provide innovative learning spaces.
During non-school hours from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., the general public will have free access to library resources and technology, as well as the library space amenities including a recording studio, study rooms, community room, makers’ space and robotics room. The library will operate under special weekday hours for the public during District breaks, including spring break, summer break, Thanksgiving break, and winter break.
Additionally, SAISD and Bexar County will partner on the construction of a parking garage across the street from Fox Tech High School, at the site of the future SAISD administration building (see concept drawing below).
“This is a great example of leveraging tax dollars and public-to-public partnerships to benefit both our District and the citizens of San Antonio,” said Superintendent Pedro Martinez. “We are excited to be a part of downtown growth, providing both our families and the greater community with educational resources and recreational access to the San Pedro Creek Culture Park.”
Under the agreement, Bexar County will invest $17.2 million to construct a 600-space garage, to be operated and maintained by the County.
SAISD will lease the garage for the exclusive use of its employees during business hours.
The garage would be open to the general public on nights and weekends, as well as for event parking – providing the public with greater access to the San Pedro Creek area.
Anticipated completion of the garage is by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
