Above: “Restoration,” mural by Kathy and Lionel Sosa
Once upon a time, I logged a lot of hours at City Hall, sometimes parking on a surface lot behind it. Behind it meaning on the other side of an unrecognizable creek. An ugly footbridge, hemmed in by chained-link fencing, crossed a narrow trash-filled concrete-walled ditch – San Pedro Creek. A place creepy enough to leave me feeling I should pay an extra dollar or two to park in front of City Hall.
Above: 1889 photograph of San Pedro Springs, Austin History Center via Portal to Texas History
Development and insensitive flood-control projects had destroyed what had once been a healthy spring-fed creek.
Above left: The walls of downtown commercial buildings afforded no space for the rapidly swelling water of San Pedro Creek during the 1921 flood, leading to extensive loss of life and property immediately downstream. Photo: from Char Miller’s West Side Rising via Texas Public Radio. Above right: Early image of San Pedro Creek near Dolorosa Street. Photo from University of Texas Libraries Special Collections via San Pedro Creek Culture Project. Bottom right: San Pedro Creek before it was channelized with concrete to provide space for expressway construction projects. Photo from University of Texas Libraries Special Collections, Hearst Collection, via San Pedro Creek Culture Project.
We went from a beautiful, idyllic creek environment that had flooding issues to an engineered trapezoidal channel that was very efficient in carrying floodwaters…. But it really devastated all the ecological value, the recreational value, and the community connection to that water resource.”
Steve Graham (former Assistant Manager of San Antonio River Authority), interviewed by Brendan Gibbons in 2021 for San Antonio Report
In town for a signing at The Twig Book Shop, we finally had an opportunity to explore another phase of the San Pedro Creek Culture Project. The recent transformation of this stretch from Houston Street to Cesar Chavez is amazing.
Under the management of the San Antonio River Authority, imaginative architects and resourceful engineers applied their studies of fluvial geomorphology (with a nod to Suzanne Scott for adding the phrase to my vocabulary) to shoehorn in an enticing space for pedestrians to interact with this waterway. Most of this project is funded by Bexar County,
Impressive public art projects have been incorporated into the design from the beginning. Buildings and businesses already are beginning to address the banks instead of using the creek side of their buildings to park dumpsters.
Above: A few shots taken while strolling along a completed section of San Pedro Creek Culture Project downtown
Above, Top Row: Diana Kersey‘s ceramic reliefs, “Bridges of Understanding,” at street level identify crossings and area history. Cement tiles: Michael Menchaca designed 16 different patterns for eight-inch-square tiles installed at several locations along San Pedro Creek.
Above left: The 1949 Alameda Theatre as viewed from the creekside walkway. Above right: An 8×50-foot mural, “Bellos Recuerdos del Teatro Alameda y Tiempos Pasados” by Joe Lopez, depicts the historic role of the theater as the heart of the west side of downtown San Antonio.
Above: “La Gloriosa Historia de San Pedro Creek on My Mind: A Story in Five Episodes,” 2,000 square feet of tiles form five murals by Kathy and Lionel Sosa
James Lifshutz, who owns an adjacent property, decided to provide a temporary home to a striking, massive, stainless-steel sculpture to complement the redevelopment of the creek. “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head” is the work of a pair of Chinese siblings who collaborate under the name of the Gao Brothers.
The brothers’ satirical take on clashing politics in their part of the world was underappreciated by some who protested its presence was trying to promote communism in San Antonio. Shortly after its 2022 installation next to the new studios of Texas Public Radio, Lenin really took it on the chin. As in BOOM!
The dramatic explosion captured the attention of arson investigators and the FBI. The saboteur was captured in the act by a nearby security camera, but, alas, no arrest for the assault has been made. The description matches that of many a perpetrator: individual wearing long-sleeved shirt, pants, ski mask and hat.
Above: “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head,” Gao Brothers, 2009
But Lenin has stoically turned the other cheek. Even though he, the victim, is now locked up for his own protection.
And there’s still more of the San Pedro Creek Project completed for us to visit next time.
December 8, 2025, Update: A tragic story about half of the Gao Brothers, now imprisoned in China. New York Times
Postcards from Barton Springs 