SAN ANTONIO - Get out and do it by September 1, 2010 -- that's the message county leaders sent to business owners in a strip mall on the Northwest Side. The county plans to tear down the Northwest Plaza Shopping Center off Fredericksburg near Vance Jackson to prevent flooding problems.
The strip mall holds more than 30 businesses and employs hundreds of people. Thursday night some of those people showed up to a meeting at Jefferson High School looking for answers. But instead, the county dropped a bombshell on them.
The meeting took less than 30 minutes. Many people showed to voice their concerns about how they'd provide for their families if they were out work.
County leaders explained they'd be evicting more than 30 Northwest Plaza businesses. Their plan is to turn the area into a retention pond.
"It's an area that would retain or hold back water for a period of 24-48 hours, and then release it in a controlled fashion,” Bexar County Flood Control Manager Art Villarreal told the crowd.
Back in 2002 the Woodlawn Lake community saw some major flooding. The county wants to make sure that doesn't ever happen again.
“It is goodbye,” said James Markwell, owner of the Northwest Flea Market. “The time, the area, the footage is not available to build another market like this one."
Markwell opened the Northwest Flea Market in 1973. In less than 30 minutes he saw his life's work come to an end.
"It's been a very good business; an interesting business. I've enjoyed it," Markwell commented.
James told us he doesn't have the strength to open up another business. He said the hardest part is having to break the news to the dozens of tenants who have booths in his flea market. Still. as he says goodbye, he tries to stay positive.
"I will look for the sunrise and not the sunset," he added.
News 4 WOAI also confirmed the county is willing to help these businesses with moving expenses. But that's it. They’ll be filing a Petition for Condemnation at the courthouse Friday. That will allow them to take over the 26-acre piece of land legally.
