SAN ANTONIO – Organizers of A Night in Old San Antonio, a beloved four-day Fiesta event, announced Wednesday they are preparing for a “reset” next year.
In a news release, The Conservation Society of San Antonio said it is reenvisioning NIOSA for future success, streamlining operations and reducing staff to support the redesign.
Betty Bueché, president of the Conservation Society, said two people were laid off: one full-time NIOSA manager and one part-time bookkeeper. Three employees remain on staff.
“There is a financial situation,” Bueché told KSAT in an interview on Wednesday. “We need to retool this so that we can make sure that we have proceeds. We’re being very cautious about this.”
Bueché said that “the city has been working toward the moment when they can redevelop La Villita for public benefit.”
“As a result of that, we no longer have available for NIOSA the use of the Villita Assembly Hall,” she said. ”We will not have Maverick Plaza if their construction continues.”
The Conservation Society’s loss of two major spaces within La Villita for NIOSA results in a 43% loss of space, according to Bueché.
The society said the goal is to build a stronger NIOSA for the future, while honoring the volunteers and workers who helped make it a San Antonio tradition.
“Unfortunately, aligning our resources with this new direction means saying goodbye to some of our valued team members through a staff reduction,” Bueché said in the Wednesday release. “We are immensely grateful to those who have helped sustain this event and appreciate the thousands of volunteers who are committed to making A Night In Old San Antonio even better.”
For more than 70 years, the release states the Fiesta event has helped raise millions of dollars to support the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic structures in the community.
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