Visitors to the Alamo during the recent holiday season were able to experience something new this year.
Plaza de Valero opened to the public on Dec. 20.
Screened by construction fencing since fall 2023, the plaza was redeveloped and landscaped as part of a $550 million plan to restore the church and long barrack structures, recapture the original mission site and battlefield footprint and create a visitor center and museum.
The plaza is located in front of the Menger Hotel and south of the mission gate and lunette and Alamo Plaza which is directly in front of the Alamo church and is home to the Cenotaph.
Plaza de Valero, named for the Alamo’s original name, San Antonio de Valero, is where the majority of Alamo visitors arriving from the convention center and hotels enter the area.
The $26 million plaza project was intended to restore reverence to the site and improve the pedestrian experience, said Kate Rogers, executive director of the Alamo Trust.
“It’s always been envisioned to be a place for the community to gather, but then for a while, because of commercial encroachment and the presence of cars, that kind of went away for a moment,” Rogers said.
In the newly developed plaza, gone is the 1976 bandstand, which was disassembled and moved to storage along with two bronze dedication plaques and a time capsule to be opened in 2076.
In its place is a park-like setting with shade trees, native plants and grasses and a covered pavilion. Underground is a 167,000-gallon rainwater harvesting cistern.
“What we’re trying to do is create a sense of arrival, so that you know the moment you’ve stepped onto the historic footprint, you have arrived at the Alamo,” Rogers said.
Though the fencing has come down, one element of the plaza is yet to come. Plans call for a 60-foot flag pole for the American and Texas flags.
Next year’s holiday visitors to the Alamo will find a giant illuminated Christmas tree installed on the flag pole.
Other projects in the Alamo Plan that are ongoing include the Visitor Center and Museum, scheduled to open in 2027; the Alamo promenade, Paseo del Alamo, the Texas Cavaliers Education Center and the Houston North streetscape.
