A viewer question about the future of the former Lamar Elementary campus led TheTXLoop to reach out to the San Antonio Independent School District for answers.
SAISD closed Lamar Elementary in May 2024, citing low enrollment.
Now, more than a year later, the district says no final decision has been made about what will happen to the property.
According to SAISD, the campus is currently being considered for possible partnerships as part of the district’s facilities repurposing process.
District officials said community survey responses identified several priorities for the campus, including:
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Fine arts programs
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Early childhood services for children ages 0 to 3
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Green space
SAISD also said more public meetings are planned before any decision is made on the future of the campus.
But what do the people who live in the Mahncke Park neighborhood want to see happen to the property?
TheTXLoop’s Sarah Acosta went to the neighborhood to ask neighbors what they think should come next for the former school campus.
Francille Radmann has lived in a few houses down from the now shuttered Lamar Elementary School for over 40 years.
“Of course I’d like it to be a school, but since San Antonio School District can’t afford the school, at least according to the information we’re given,” Radmann said, “it could be, I think, a residential situation for young adults with disabilities who need more of a dormitory or campus life, and that would allow them to be out of their parents’ homes.”
Radmann said she just hopes that it’s not housing or condos that would be there as a money grab.
“I don’t want to see it become someone’s condo project,” Radmann said. “I would really rather see it have a public use and not a money-making use.“
John Gambuzza has lived across from the school since 1978. He said it should have never closed in the first place and hopes the district reopens it as an elementary school.
“I think they’ve already decided what they’re going to do, but one of the options was like a childcare center, but they already had that when they had an elementary school,” Gambuzza said. “So that didn’t make any sense. Green space, I had no idea what that means. And the other option, fine arts, we’ll see. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be condos with a really nice pool in the middle of them, but who knows.”
Joyce Felter has been in Mahnke Park since 1975. She is livid over the closure of Lamar Elementary School.
“I would like to see it reopened as an elementary school,” Felter said. “So if I say anything else, it’s not true. Things that I would accept without squawking about them, we’re really helpless so this district does not want to work with us at all.“
When asked about the potential surveyed options from the district, Felter said childcare makes the most sense because that is what the building was used for.
“The arts thing would be just wonderful, but I don’t know how the economics work out,” Felter said. “And green space, I may start calling them and asking what on earth is a green space? Are they going to knock down our building? I mean, I don’t know if they can get permission to do that. It would be a hard pull with the conservation society.“
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