SAN ANTONIO – Update 4/3/20
San Antonio city leaders officially announced on Friday that city parks would be closed to the public on Easter weekend. Walking, running and biking trails will remain open.
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Also Friday, the San Antonio River Authority announced it would close the following parks entirely from April 10 through April 12:
- Confluence Park, 310 W. Mitchell St.
- Portions of the Mission Reach section of the San Antonio River Walk
- Concepción Portal and adjoining green space near Concepción Park
- Mission Parkway from SE Military to Villamain, including Espada Park, Acequia Park, and the Acequia Pavilion
- All large pavilions along the river; these are already closed and will remain so until further notice
- River Crossing Park, 6890 South Loop 1604 E.
- Graytown Park on the San Antonio River, 1239 CR 125 in Wilson County
- John William Helton San Antonio River Nature Park, 15662 FM 775 in Wilson County
The River Authority previously closed access to pavilions, basketball courts, and playgrounds in its parks.
Update 4/2/20:
City leaders said Thursday that city parks will be closed to the public on Easter weekend.
During Thursday’s city council meeting, City Attorney Andy Segovia said the city will make it official soon.
“Right now we’re looking at closing all the city parks on Saturday and Sunday of Easter weekend, starting midnight on Friday, all the parks will be closed. There may be an exception for trailways and greenways, in which people are using those to walk, run, bicycle, anything with which you’re in motion,” Segovia said.
Easter camping is a long-standing tradition in San Antonio when the city usually lifts the curfew at parks for three nights leading up to Easter Sunday. Last week, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the curfew would not be lifted this year.
Now, the city is looking to close the parks entirely over Easter weekend to keep people from holding celebrations and gatherings.
Nirenberg said Monday that there were too many violations of the social distancing orders happening in parks.
“If you do not implement social distancing, we will be forced to close our parks.”
Nirenberg announced Thursday that San Antonio’s “Stay Home, Work Safe" orders would be extended through April to align with Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide declaration.
Previous Story 3/28/20:
Thinking about camping at the park this Easter? You may want to think twice.
During a news conference to update the public about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the annual camping at the park tradition would not happen this year due to the ongoing situation.
“We’re not going to allow that this year,” Nirenberg said. “Unfortunately, that’s going to be one of the traditions that we’re going to have to put a pause on because of the spread of this disease.”
Nirenberg said during a news conference on Thursday that parks would be closing.
The San Antonio “Stay Home, Work Safe” order is in place until April 9.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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