As crews continued to dismantle the massive concrete walls of the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) on Thursday, less than a mile away, the Conservation Society of San Antonio stood before a Bexar County District judge pleading for a pause.
On April 2, the 100-year-old preservation group filed for a restraining order and temporary injunction, asking a judge to stop what appeared to be a demolition of the 1968 World’s Fair structure.
The 180,000-square-foot building, formerly functioning as a museum housing state cultural artifacts, is situated on property identified as key to the city’s plans for a sports and entertainment district.
The Conservation Society contends that the structure could be repurposed to support that vision and charges that UTSA is “acting as a proxy for the city,” to get the building torn down for a new Spurs arena.
The Conservation Society’s lawsuit argued that UTSA and the City of San Antonio had begun demolition without following the requirements of the Texas Antiquities Code and the National Historic Preservation Act. A hearing was set for April 15.
A university spokesperson told the Report that abatement work was underway, not a full demolition, and the work continued.
But when contractors began removing the building’s distinctive concrete wall panels on Tuesday, attorneys for the Conservation Society stepped up their efforts and rushed to meet with the judge.
On Thursday, the two parties met in court with the Conservation Society arguing for a temporary restraining order and UTSA claiming sovereign immunity, that the court had no jurisdiction in the case, according to a statement from the preservation group.
Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine that shields a sovereign, or a governmental entity, from being sued without its consent.
UTSA is owned by a board of regents of the University of Texas System, its members appointed by the Texas Senate.
“Today, UTSA and the city used lawyer tricks to avoid judicial review and public accountability of their actions,” Conservation Society President Lewis Vetter said in a statement. “If the City is spending $60 million to buy this property following demolition, the public has a right to be heard.”
The Conservation Society has been pressing for public hearings on the future of the building since 2022.
On Thursday, 224th District Court Judge Marisa Flores postponed a decision to April 14.
“Meanwhile, demolition is continuing in a patently destructive manner,” Vetter said in the statement. “Opposing counsel said they only removed panels to access areas for remediation, but those panels were smashed.”
The Conservation Society has sought to prevent demolition of the former Texas Pavilion due to its historic significance, beginning with HemisFair ‘68 and continuing as the ITC and the Folklife Festival. It is the only downtown landmark designed by a Mexican American architect.
The three-story rectangular ITC building was designed by the architecture firm Caudill, Rowlett & Scott and is an example of the Brutalist architectural style popular after World War II.
Just over 2,000 people have signed an online petition against the demolition that was posted by the Conservation Society almost a year ago.
Last year, the group was successful in adding the building to the National Register of Historic Places — a designation UTSA had opposed — and obtaining a State Antiquities Landmark designation.
UTSA declined to comment.
