Ruins Repurposed: Hot Wells Transformation Underway by County (Source: Rivard Report)
Shari Biediger
Crossing railroad tracks that run alongside South Presa Street, a span of dirt road leads past heavy equipment and chain-link fencing into a busy construction site where workers have cleared years worth of overgrown vegetation and graffiti as they work to restore what’s left of the long abandoned Hot Wells Resort.
The project, which has had several false starts in recent years, began in earnest just over one year ago. Bexar County Commissioners solidified the deal in April 2017 with local developer and Hot Wells owner James Lifshutz to redevelop four acres surrounding the historic ruins into a County park.
Now the ruins of the turn-of-the-century bathhouse are rising from the ashes of decay and neglect to become a first-of-its-kind public park on the Southside.
On a humid and overcast day the Rivard Report toured the historic grounds with LAN project manager Justin Murray. The bathhouse was already gleaming from restoration work in progress, creating a centerpiece for what’s to come through multiple phases of its long-anticipated renewal.
