SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio community will soon be able to play basketball outdoors near the San Antonio Spurs' original arena.
The McCombs Foundation and Spurs Give, along with Hemisfair, have announced that the “Red & Charline McCombs Community Court” is coming to Hemisfair Park near the Spurs' first NBA arena: HemisFair Arena.
The new basketball court will be covered and constructed in the Eastern Zone of the Hemisfair District, one hundred steps from the original HemisFair Arena.
“We are grateful to the McCombs family and Spurs Give,” said Andres Andujar, Hemisfair CEO, in a release. "Through the creation of the Tower Park vision and use plan, we heard from the community that a shaded basketball court would be used and loved, and we can deliver thanks to the funders’ dedication to enhancing recreational opportunities for our residents.”
The court will be located in Tower Park, near accessible parking areas. It is designed by Gomez Vazquez International and will replace a pond constructed during the 1988 Hemisfair renovation.
“The entire team at the San Antonio Spurs and Spurs Give has long been dreaming of the best way to honor the life and legacy of Red and Charline McCombs,” said Dr. Kara Allen, Executive Director of Spurs Give and Chief People Impact and Belonging Officer at Spurs Sports and Entertainment said in a release. “The opportunity to invest in and bring programming to the ‘Red & Charline McCombs Community Court’ is that dream realized. Together, we’re all building leaders and legacies where so many families will come to live, learn, work and play.”
“We are deeply honored to receive charitable support from two esteemed partners, whose generosity will amplify our impact and empower us to create positive change,” Anne Krause, Executive Director of the Hemisfair Conservancy said in a release. “We celebrate the largest philanthropic gift to Hemisfair to date and cannot wait to get to work bringing a new fabulous amenity to our community.”
According to Hemisfair, construction on the basketball court will begin this spring, 2024, and will be complete in the spring of 2025. Gifts from the McCombs Foundation and Spurs Give total $1.8 million is the cost for the new outdoor covered basketball court for the community’s benefit.
It is interesting to note that the color used for the court's roof is reminiscent of the color of the HemisFair Arena's walking ramps and lobby.
Considering Red and Charline McCombs' efforts to bring NBA basketball to San Antonio, it is fitting that the new community court will be near the former site of the HemisFair Arena. This brought the city together to cheer for the Silver and Black since 1973 when they were an ABA team and became part of the NBA in 1976.