SAN ANTONIO – A new community center will come to a South Side neighborhood in summer 2026, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The TDLR filing on Monday, Dec. 22, details plans for the construction of a 12,000-square-foot-plus community center to replace the former Father Manuel Roman Center at the Villa Coronado park south of Loop 410.
An October 2023 structural assessment deemed the building “structurally unsound.” The building was later recommended for demolition and replacement, according to a June 2024 City of San Antonio presentation.
The building was built in the mid-1980s and later demolished in March 2025. The project’s $12 million budget covers demolition, design and construction of the new center.
A well-known mural on the former building’s façade was lost during demolition. However, city documents allude to a public input process facilitated by the city’s Arts & Culture Department to honor the center’s namesake, Manuel Roman, through a public art component.
Costs for the new center are estimated to be around $8.3 million. Construction is expected to begin on May 12, 2026, and be completed on July 11, 2027, according to the filing.
The center’s design phase is complete, and the city is beginning the permitting and bidding process, according to a spokesperson for the District 3 City Council office.
Marmon Mok was the architecture firm tapped to design the project. The firm’s portfolio includes work on the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Stone Oak’s Parman Library and renovations on the Lila Cockrell Theater.
The new community center will include a lobby, gymnasium, classrooms, offices, a kitchen and several support areas.
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