2025 Texas & Southeast Best Projects
Award of Merit, Landscape/Urban Development: San Pedro Creek Culture Park
San Pedro Creek Culture Park
San Antonio
Award of Merit
Submitted by Sundt Construction
Owner San Antonio River Authority
Lead Design Firm HDR
General Contractor Sundt-Davila, a Joint Venture
Civil Engineer Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc.
MEP Engineer GGC Engineers
Architect Ford Powell and Carson
Landscape Architect Rialto Studio
This $241-million multiphased flood control project reconstructed 2.25 miles of creek through downtown San Antonio between 2017 and May 2025. The creek’s often catastrophic flooding led the city to divert it to a tunnel in the 1980s, which helped prevent flooding but nearly eliminated water flow in the creek.
In the works for decades, the project widens and deepens the channel, removing downtown land and structures from the 100-year floodplain and restoring the historic creek.
Three automated flood control gates impound seasonal stream flows and restore the riparian ecosystem while providing the required flood control benefits during storms.
Due to previous artifact discoveries in the area, archaeologists provided oversight during all excavations. The project recorded 75 features that required coordination with federal and state agencies.
During earthwork in one section, crews unearthed the foundation of a mid-1800s structure: the original location of one of Bexar County’s first Black churches.
After an 18-month delay to excavate and preserve the site, along with a complete redesign, the team incorporated this found history into the park.
