A century of innovation
From Brooks Air Force Base to Brooks City Base to Brooks
This area of South San Antonio has over a century of history to its name, including pioneering space exploration discoveries and a visit from President John F. Kennedy. Brooks Air Force Base was named after Sidney J. Brooks, a native San Antonian who was killed in a solo training flight en route back from Hondo to Kelly Field.
Many innovations were made at Brooks School of Aviation Medicine and then the School of Aerospace Medicine, including early flight instruments, the backpack parachute, and medical procedures such as MRIs and Lasik surgery.
After the Air Force Base was added to the BRAC (base realignment and closure) list, this corner of San Antonio went through many evolutions, until the 100th anniversary of the base in 1917. The name was officially changed to Brooks to align with the identity as an up-and-coming community with a vision as big as Texas, in 2017. Today, anyone can live, work, learn, play, or stay in the area as there are new residences, businesses, and job opportunities being added all the time.
Brooks Field established as an Army Air Corps installation to provide advanced flying training for young cadets.
School of Aviation Medicine moves to Brooks Field from New York.
Brooks Field becomes Brooks Air Force Base. To take off, pilots would chase jackrabbits through a field of grass and when they reached the same speed as the rabbit, they knew they were going fast enough to pull the stick back to go airborne.
Groundbreaking for new facilities at Brooks to house the School of Aerospace Medicine. Many aerospace medicine discoveries made at Brooks Air Force Base were used to develop modern medicine down on earth, including the invention of the MRI machine and Lasik surgery.
Brooks placed on and then is removed from the BRAC closure list.
Planning between the Air Force and City of San Antonio produces “City Base Concept.”
Congress enacts Brooks City Base Project special legislation; amends it in 2000.
City of San Antonio establishes the Brooks Development Authority; State of Texas creates military base redevelopment authorities.
Brooks Air Force Base is conveyed to BDA creating “Brooks City Base,” a unique partnership among the U.S. Air Force, the City of San Antonio, the State of Texas and the Brooks Development Authority.
Air Force missions at Brooks City Base are designated to relocate as a result of 2005 BRAC decision.
Air Force missions at Brooks cease on September 15, 2011, with 94 years of military activity.
Brooks redefines its mission and vision to serve as a catalyst of economic development that continues to enhance opportunities for those who live, work, learn and play here.
Brooks was the first regional center adopted under the SA Tomorrow comprehensive plan for growth and development. SA Tomorrow covers land use, economic development, housing, environmental protection, preservation, and transportation.
By 2017 Brooks opens the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Brooks Hotel & Spa, the only full-service hotel or conference and event center south of downtown San Antonio and north of Corpus Christi or McAllen. Embassy Suites becomes one of several lodging options that are perfect for quick stays, business trips, family gatherings, weddings, small and large events.
The former Brooks Air Force Base turns 100 years old, while the development known as Brooks City Base turns 15 years old, kicking off a unique year-long celebration called the Quincetennial. During this eventful year of milestones, Brooks City Base becomes Brooks to align our name with our identity as an up-and-coming community with a vision as big as Texas.
Brooks completes a $2.8 million rehabilitation and restoration project of the historic Hangar 9 building. Hangar 9 is a San Antonio Historic Landmark listed in the Texas State Historical Survey, the National Register of Historic Places, and is a National Historic Landmark. Hangar 9 becomes a popular destination for events and special gatherings.
Located on the Brooks campus,The University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine is a four-year program to learn osteopathic medicine creating future doctors to succeed in the community. The first graduating class was May 2021.
The 43 acres of green space known as The Greenline opened in April 2018 in the heart of Brooks. The linear waterfront park offers one mile of illuminated hike and bike trails and 1.5 miles of jogging trails, outdoor games, barbecue at the pavilions, and a play structure. The Greenline features public art installations that serve as a reminder of Brooks’ values and the people and institutions who made our future possible. A time capsule containing artists’ notes, renderings and sketches – as well as items from Brooks – were buried at the base of the “Running with the Moon ” sculpture. The capsule will be opened in 100 years (2118).
There are 24 areas in San Antonio eligible for the federal government’s community development tax incentive program known as Opportunity Zones. Brooks secured the first investment under the federal program in the state of Texas in 2020. Extra Space Storage opened in August 2021.
Brook’s ability to bring global exposure to San Antonio by being home to the Okin BPS corporate headquarters and the Nissei Plastic Machinery America Inc.’s plant landed it at the top spot of 2018’s coveted San Antonio Business Journal Business of the Year.
Among the first three innovation districts chosen by the City of San Antonio, Brooks has become a target pilot-project area where challenges are identified, and new ideas are tried in real-world settings in an effort to expand across San Antonio.
The Brooks campus became home to VIA Metropolitan Transit’s Brooks Transit Center. This state-of-the-art, Wi-Fi-connected bus hub features convenient, high-frequency bus service along eight bus routes, including an Express route to downtown San Antonio and a new Primo route along Military Drive to VIA’s Kel-Lac Transit Center.
The extension provides Brooks residents, visitors, and workers direct access from The Greenline Park to the 30-mile hike-and-bike path that runs from Brackenridge Park to Mission Park. The San Antonio River Authority managed design, permitting, construction for the extension trail and will continue to manage upkeep. The project includes stormwater drainage improvements, including two box culverts.
Nearly five acres of land adjacent to The Greenline for the development of a new housing community consisting of 60 single-family homes by San Antonio-based developer Terramark Urban Homes. The project, which will be named Southlake, broke ground in 2021 and is expected to be complete in late 2022.
Okin Business Process Services, a Prague-based firm that serves information technology and telecommunications firms, invested at least $23 million into a new headquarters at Brooks.
Nissei America, Inc., a Japanese assembling medium to large-scale hybrid injection molding machines, consolidated its U.S. headquarters at its subsidiary, Nissei Plastic Machinery America, currently located at Brooks.
1917
Brooks Field established as an Army Air Corps installation to provide advanced flying training for young cadets. During the early days of aviation, pilots only flew during the day, never at night or in bad weather.
1927
School of Aviation Medicine moves to Brooks Field from New York.
1947
Brooks Field becomes Brooks Air Force Base. To take off, pilots would chase JACKRABBITS through a field of grass and when they reached the same speed as the rabbit, they knew they were going fast enough to pull the stick back to go airborne.
1957
Groundbreaking for new facilities at Brooks to house the School of Aerospace Medicine. Many aerospace medicine discoveries made at Brooks Air Force Base were used to develop modern medicine down on earth, including the invention of the MRI machine and Lasik surgery.
1995
Brooks placed on and then is removed from the BRAC closure list.
1997
Planning between the Air Force and City of San Antonio produces “City Base Concept.”
1999
Congress enacts Brooks City Base Project special legislation; amends it in 2000.
2001
City of San Antonio establishes the Brooks Development Authority; State of Texas creates military base redevelopment authorities.
2002
Brooks Air Force Base is conveyed to BDA creating “Brooks City Base,” a unique partnership among the U.S. Air Force, the City of San Antonio, the State of Texas and the Brooks Development Authority.
2005
Air Force missions at Brooks City Base are designated to relocate as a result of 2005 BRAC decision.
2011
Air Force mission presence at Brooks ceases on September 15; 94 years of military activity.
2013
Brooks redefines its mission and vision to serve as a catalyst of economic development that continues to enhance opportunities for those who live, work, learn and play here.
2017
The former Brooks Air Force Base turns 100 years old, while the development known as Brooks City Base turns 15 years old, kicking off a unique year-long celebration called the Quincetennial. During this eventful year of milestones, Brooks City Base becomes Brooks to align our name with our identity as an up-and-coming community with a vision as big as Texas.
2022
The former Brooks Air Force Base turns 100 years old, while the development known as Brooks City Base turns 15 years old, kicking off a unique year-long celebration called the Quincetennial. During this eventful year of milestones, Brooks City Base becomes Brooks to align our name with our identity as an up-and-coming community with a vision as big as Texas.