SAN ANTONIO- The San Antonio Independent School District board members debated late into the night Tuesday about big changes at Alamo Stadium.
For almost two hours, parents, students and coaches urged board members to keep the track at the historic stadium. A handful of people encouraged the board to remove the track to make room for a FIFA-sized soccer field to make the district more competitive.
Earlier Tuesday, an SAISD spokesperson confirmed the city ended negotiations with the district about the Wheatley Heights sports complex on the east side. The district had been eyeing the complex as a possible location for future track competitions, if the board voted to remove the track in the stadium. Now, that's no longer an option.
If a FIFA-sized soccer field was built inside the stadium, that could open the door for the Spurs Sports and Entertainment group to bring in a professional team to play there. That could also bring in revenue to the cash-strapped district. The stadium is not large enough for both a track and a professional-sized soccer field. The stadium, however, has a deed restriction against professional teams playing in the stadium and several citizens asked the board about the prohibition in Tuesday's meeting.
However, SAISD has another option on the table. Morgan's Wonderland founder Gordon Hartman is building a FIFA-sized soccer field at the STAR Soccer Complex on the northeast side. In a letter addressed to Superintendent Dr. Robert Duron, Hartman offers the Community Stadium as a place where SAISD athletes could play on a professional sized field. Hartman said Tuesday he has not discussed the possibility with the board yet.
