To the people of Texas and all Americans in the world, fellow citizens and compatriots,
The Alamo is besieged, by a thousand or more crazy ideas by politicians, rich men, and general history nuts who want to turn our beloved Alamo into a walled-off expanse of treeless, over-baked dirt, destroying ancient trees and beloved monuments in the process.
Confession: I am a history nut.
If you are a history nut job, too, you might recognize the words above as a bastardization of William Barret Travis’ desperate and brilliant letter to the world from the besieged Alamo on Feb. 24, 1836.
It seems the Alamo is under siege again. Powerful forces are moving to completely redo Alamo Plaza. Some of their ideas are good, but many more are, frankly, catastrophic. The plan is to destroy much of the Alamo compound made in the Works Progress Administration Depression-era reconstruction and essentially create a walled-in dirt plaza. Currently a glass wall is planned, approximating (not accurately) the old walls of the Alamo compound.
Does the Alamo need “saving?” It is a pile of limestone that carries a lot of meaning for a lot of people. It is beautiful. But it was a pile of limestone in 1836 (a complete ruin) and is essentially a pile of limestone today.
Why do I care about this? Because Alamo Plaza is the most vital public space in San Antonio, in Texas, and in the Southwest. It is the “stage” on which the story of San Antonio has played out. I feel so strongly about the old mission, that the first image in my feature film “Still Breathing” starts with it. Another scene also was filmed there. Generations upon generations have made pilgrimages to the Alamo and created their own histories there.
There are massive amounts of history that came before and after 1836: Since the mid-19th century, several presidents have spoken there. Teddy Roosevelt recruited Rough Riders there (or in the bar next door), parades pass through the area, and the first Battle of Flowers Parade started there. People have expressed their opinions in peaceful demonstrations and the city’s Christmas Tree is displayed on the grounds. People rest and talk and eat snow cones under the ancient trees there.
I have been there countless times, most memorably in the middle of the night, when it is magical and unforgettable. I remember seeing the Queen of England, the Pope, and even a sweating Henry B. González there. What I believe is the most beautiful tree in Texas lives there.
All of that will stop with the new plan.
The Good (and “Okay”) Ideas:
- The tacky tourist trap businesses on the west side of the Plaza will be closed and occupied by a new Alamo Museum.
- A water feature will be added, reminding us of the ”Alamo Ditch” that used to flow through the plaza at the time of the Mission, featuring native plants.
- The plaza will be completely closed to traffic. (I like the compromise we have now, with some traffic forbidden, but still allowing parades to pass in front of the iconic structure. There is something to be said for being able to drive by the Alamo. I remember as a child, how the sight of the Alamo passing outside the window of the car always took my breath away.)
- Recreate the historic south gate of the Alamo in glass (less wall, please). However, have you heard of glass cutters? They cost a few dollars in any hardware store and can deface a pretty glass wall or glass gate in seconds. Why not mark the spot of the gate with timeless brass or steel structure, outlining the old gate?
- Glass pavement to see the old excavated structures below.
The Horrifically Bad ideas:
- Wall in the Alamo and restrict access 24/7: Currently the plan is to make a glass wall, creating a magnet for graffiti, attacks, outrage, and scorn. I won’t go into the optics of a wall surrounding a former Spanish/Mexican structure, where mostly white, pro-slavery immigrants fought and were defeated by a Mexican dictator. Now we have the idea of building an expensive terrarium-like glass enclosure to keep the “people” out, in a city with a vast majority of Latinos. (Do they really want to light that fuse?)
- Take out all the trees and replace with a giant “authentic” dirt space which will undoubtably be swelteringly oppressive in the Texas sun from May through to October.
- Remove the famous and eloquent “Cenotaph” monument from the Alamo Centennial in 1936.
- Destroy much of the 1930’s WPA construction, including the “most beautiful tree in Texas.” And even if they keep it, it will look lopsided and deformed without the wall it grew up beside.
I have to point out that San Antonio has a checkered and dismal history of public art in the 20th century, one in which aesthetics and taste have been mysteriously lacking. May I draw your attention to San Antonio’s The Vietnam Memorial (horrifically deformed facial features, grotesque, and embarrassing), The Korean War Monument (inert, passive soldiers trapped in a monument to concrete), and the absurd Samuel Gompers statue (anatomically bizarre, a no-necked Gompers surrounded by grasping, tiny union members in overalls).
So let’s think this through, folks. Compare this work to the sculpture on the Cenotaph they want to move.
James – I agree and disagree with your list. Regardless of that, compromise to go forward with the current plan (whether modified or not) is not a good idea.
Stop, Scrap and Start over.
Repeal and replace
Alamo Plaza as is has served San Antonio and it’s visitors well over several decades. Leave well enough alone.I totally agree with James F. Robinson.
I can only say “Amen.” Cutting down those trees would be true sacrilege. Lord knows there were trees there — and vegetable gardens — when it was a mission. Let’s not forget that it was a mission before it was anything else.
Once again, someone (who says he is a history nut) talks about how much he enjoys “driving by the Alamo”. What he actually means is “driving through the Alamo and then looking over at the Alamo church.” We have to lose this mindset that the Alamo church is THE Alamo, when in fact it was a very small part of the overall compound. The greater part of the Alamo was what is now called “Alamo Plaza”. The whole idea of an Alamo Master Plan is to educate the public how the Alamo was so much more than just the little church building. When most tourists visit the site for the first time, they usually exclaim in disappointment: “Is that all there is? It’s so small!” Well, it wasn’t . Size (Nearly four acres of wall) contributed in part to the Alamo’s fall. There were simply not enough defenders to adequately man the vast compound.
While it remains part of the Alamo Master Plan to close the plaza to vehicular traffic in order to create a more reverent, quiet place for reflection and to keep the walls from being further damaged from auto emissions, many San Antonio residents attending the recent Reimagine The Alamo meeting at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center moaned how closing the plaza to vehicular traffic would be an inconvenience to them personally, as it would add extra minutes to their daily commute. Never mind that the Plaza was the site of a bloody battle; never mind that a thousand Native American Indian converts are buried there, making it twice hallowed ground. It’s an inconvenience to THEM, so should remain open. Would they plow across Gettysburg battlefield in order to save a little time? Certainly not. Would they drive willy nilly through a graveyard, knocking down tombstones left and right in order to save them 15 minutes? Of course not. But they seem willing and adamant about continuing to have the right to drive through the Alamo that way. Both Alamo Plaza and Alamo Street ARE the Alamo, folks. Treat them with as much respect as you do that little church building. They are all one and the same.
If the reasoning is that no traffic or industry should besmirch a “sacred” historical site, then we need to shut down Commerce Street near “St. Joskes” (St. Joseph Catholic Church) immediately. It was there that the bodies of the Alamo Defenders were piled up and burned and the DNA of Crockett, Bowie, Travis and their fellows is scattered under the asphalt.
The fact is that important battlefields are almost always covered up with something else. Many Civil War battlefields are covered with development and roads in places like Virginia. People can and should preserve what they can, but the Alamo Mission happened to have a large city grow up around it. And the Plaza developed it’s own intricate post-1836 public history that continues to this day. For example, it was the public butchery and meat market for the city for many decades in the late 19th century. Trollies originated there that took happy San Antonians to the (formerly) glorious San Pedro Springs. What about the colorful history of the Chili Queens and the legendary barbed wire demonstration that supposedly took place there and changed the West? Not to mention over 150 years of public celebrations and events. A lot happened there.
What we honor and how we do it is the question, and can we make sure it is a place that allows future history to happen there? Boxing it up in plexiglass and restricting entry would mean we would lose something as a city.
The important American Revolutionary Battle of Brooklyn NY is now covered up by well, Brooklyn. The important Battle of Concepción (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Concepción), south of downtown is now covered by houses, roads and businesses. I don’t think the men that died there are any less brave than the men that died at the Alamo, just because no one made movies about their battle.
Closing Alamo Street may be inevitable, and it might be wise, but making a giant dirt terrarium where the mission enclosure used to be is foolish.
Don’t screw up the Shrine of Texas Freedom!
Thanks to Bob Rivard for offering all of us the ONLY venue that allows us an opportunity to submit our commentaries and post replies in a sane, rational, and gentlemanly manner….even when some of us would prefer to rip another poster’s tongue out.
The best thing about the commentaries are all the different opinions and ideas that I never thought about before. Y’all have made me rethink almost every idea that I have had.
Rodney Turnfellow makes an excellent point. Alamo Plaza is the core of the battlefield, but it isn’t a cemetery and we are already compromising it, making it less ‘sacred’ with buildings on the north and west sides. I feel the same way James Robinson does about driving past the Alamo, and I often detour when I am elsewhere downtown just so I can see my Alamo. How would I get an elderly or disabled friend or family member to see the Alamo? Wheelchairs aren’t the answer in all situations.
Your thoughts and the opinions continue to inspire me, but my vote doesn’t count anywhere, I’m just another history nut, so I sure hope the City Council is listening. The petition to the Governor and the Legislature has over 600 supporters, so keep on sharing!
https://www.change.org/p/greg-abbott-remember-the-alamo-properly
I am a heat transfer engineer with more than 40 years in industrial heat transfer and HVAC. The glass wall will convert the sun’s radiation into heat. The wall will block any breeze. Then with all the trees gone, there is a lack of shade. Only open during the day, there sill be no tourists. I suggest to reconstruct a few limestone walls, plant more trees, walkways and fountains. Don’t forget to remember the Tejanos who gave their lives for your freedom. My 4th great=grandfather was buried in Texas in 1835.