Bexar County officials were spooked three years ago when they learned the Spurs organization was in talks with San Antonio officials about moving to a new arena downtown.
They worried that the county’s East Side real estate, which includes the Freeman Coliseum and the Frost Bank Center where the NBA team currently plays, could become a wasteland without the Spurs.
County Judge Peter Sakai, who’d been in office just six months, needed a plan to keep locals and visitors alike coming — which meant helping the facilities compete for concerts, conferences and revivals in the face of more competition from the new arena for events…