On Wednesday, July 18, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce hosted the design team tasked with interpreting the Alamo Master Plan approved by the City Council in 2017. More than 40 members joined the briefing, led by Assistant City Manager Lori Houston, along with PGAV Destinations, Cultural Innovations, Reed Hildebrand and Pape Dawson presenting traffic studies and landscaping design.
The 2017 approved Master Plan includes the following elements:
- Preserve the Alamo Church and the Long Barracks
- Remove entertainment attractions from the 1836 battlefield
- Close Alamo Street
- Create an Alamo museum
- Restore and preserve the Alamo Cenotaph
The charge facing the interpretive design team is to develop a comprehensive analysis and strategic design for an improved public experience of the Alamo – physical approaches to the historic site and immersive educational experiences that engender powerful emotional connections.
The team has developed and presented a number of designs to stakeholders that propose the closing of Alamo Street to vehicular traffic between Commerce and Houston Streets, and using creative landscaping design to establish a more accurate historical footprint of the battlefield. To compensate for the closure of northbound Alamo Street, the proposal includes expanding Losoya, which sits one block to the west, and making the one-way street a north-south artery. A full presentation of the proposals with sketches is available on The Alamo’s
website.
A vote has not been scheduled for City Council yet, though to remain on a projected timeline to complete restoration by the 300
th anniversary of The Alamo in 2024, we anticipate action in mid-to-late August.
The Alamo restoration has been a priority for the Chamber for many years. In 2017, your Chamber testified at Council in support of the process outlined by the Master Plan, at the direction of our members. We have also advocated for state funding from the General Land Office as part of our state legislative agenda during the last two legislative sessions.
