SAN ANTONIO — City leaders celebrated newly-completed renovations at Martin Luther King Park with a ribbon-cutting Monday.
Workers installed a new splash pad, running trail, nature pavilion, and playground equipment. Voters approved the upgrades, worth about $3.7 million, in 2017's five-year bond package.
"It's an investment in a Black and brown community," said city councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez. "It's an investment in representation."
McKee-Rodriguez, the city's Public Works Department, Parks & Recreation Department, and Arts and Culture Department hosted the event.
Organizers also dedicated a 17-foot steel-and-concrete sculpture, Spheres of Reflection, by San Antonio artist Kaldric Dow.
The art piece, meant to inspire thought about King's ideology, is one of many homages to the Black experience and Black excellence that now dot the park's greenspace.
The art piece was made possible through the city's "Sketch to Sculpture" program, launched in 2019.
"If anything, the sculpture is saying, 'Guys, you can do it.' It's like encouragement," Dow said Monday in an interview with KENS 5.
McKee-Rodriguez notes that 95 percent of people who live around Martin Luther King Park are people of color. Most identify as Black or Latino.
"There's been investment in other parts of town," he said. "There hasn't really been investment here... Everyone deserves to see themselves represented in the world around them. You can't be what you can't see."
Dow said he hopes the newly-renovated park offers a safe space for San Antonio's east side residents to appreciate their own value.
"It brings a lot of hope for the people here - to know that people are invested in them and kind of rooting for them," Dow said. "There's a lot of good people here. They just need structure and foundation. (The park) brings a lot of hope and inspiration to create something bigger."
You can watch the full video here: