Bexar County Commissioners awarded a grant of $250,000 on Tuesday to the Johnny Hernandez Grant Foundation to help fund improvements to La Villita Arts Market.
The funds will go toward awnings, fans, sound systems, tables, chairs and lighting needed for arts fairs, culinary events and other cultural programming in what Commissioner Justin Rodriguez (Pct. 2) called “the heart of the city.”
The city completed $5.6 million in improvements to Maverick Plaza in October, part of a plan initiated in 2017 to develop new restaurants and programming at La Villita led by Chef Johnny Hernandez of Grupo La Gloria in partnership with the City of San Antonio.
The restaurants were envisioned as a showcase for San Antonio’s culinary legacy, recognized in by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which named San Antonio as a Creative City of Gastronomy.
Construction, set to start in 2020, was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, which also affected small businesses in La Villita, and later by the advent of road construction that began in the area last year.
Hernandez previously said he was unwilling to take the risk to move forward on the restaurants until he knew the exact timeline for the road project. But those plans remained on the drawing board.
In 2022, a city panel gave conceptual approval for design plans for a Mexican restaurant in Maverick Plaza and another smaller restaurant in the renovated Faville House, a historic structure in the plaza.
Hernandez said one restaurant is set to open in a year and a half. Details and a construction schedule is expected to be shared this summer, said city spokeswoman Kelly Saunders.
Meanwhile, street improvements are ongoing adjacent to La Villita, including South Alamo Street and East César E. Chávez Boulevard.
The 2017-22 bond work is forcing Fiesta-goers to navigate pylon-lined pedestrian paths to access parade routes and A Night In Old San Antonio, which kicks off Tuesday.
The grant Hernandez requested from the county will pay for upgrades to La Villita and begin to provide more programs and amenities to the businesses and visitors there.
“I’ve stepped up and said I’m willing to start programming to help the village to begin to grow the tourism, to begin to bring people into the village, before the restaurant that will open,” Hernandez said.
The grant funds will be used to create infrastructure that will make it easy to to host an event in La Villita, he added.
Food and beverage establishments attract tourists, Hernandez said.
“Any developer knows that, without a great restaurant, without a great coffee shop, without a great big shop, people are not coming,” he said. “So that’s our mission … to bring the visitation and share the village.”
Established in 2013, the foundation named for Hernandez’s father supports culinary education and activation in San Antonio. In October, Hernandez oversaw Día de los Muertos celebrations in La Villita.
Hernandez also told commissioners he is planning to make a “very generous contribution” toward the cost of improvements and programming.
County Judge Peter Sakai said he saw the grant as an investment in La Villita. He asked Hernandez to return to Commissioners Court at a future date to report on how the funds were used and to “assure … the use of taxpayer money is going to great use.”
