(Nicole Frugé/Express-News)
The top priority of the master plan is building preservation, especially at the chapel and Long Barrack. The first donation for the $60 million capital campaign came from schoolchildren.
Posted on 08/05/2007 1:43:06 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
The new vision for the Alamo, it turns out, involves returning the old mission to its past.
Restoring the icon's two oldest structures to their 1836 appearance, adding buildings for archives, lectures and youth programs, and giving visitors a better sense that Alamo Plaza is sacred ground — not just a magnet for sno-cone vendors — are goals of a new master plan for the state's top tourist attraction.
The plan envisions the Alamo being more welcoming to its 2.5 million annual visitors, with a shaded waiting area by day and soft lighting for after-hours tours by night.
Some have called the plan the biggest development at the Alamo since it was saved from being made into a hotel in 1903. It seeks to expand the state-owned, 4.2-acre site north, beyond its existing walls, and to use, for the first time, permanent endowments to fund future preservation and education.
It will take about $60 million, officials said, to preserve the Alamo and help people understand its storied past, including the 1836 battle. The Texas Historical Commission and Daughters of the Republic of Texas, custodians of the Alamo, recently approved the plan, which calls for construction of a 49,000-square-foot building to house a library, 250-seat auditorium, Texana bookstore and other new amenities.
Madge Roberts, DRT president general, knows all about the problems at the Alamo. The DRT Library is 85 percent full — "bursting at the seams" by library standards, she said. Alamo Hall, an old city fire station used for gatherings, has just two toilets to serve up to 150 people. Living history participants have no designated area to rehearse or slip into their costumes, which are crammed in the curator's office.
"We'd seen all these problems and needed to put them into a workable plan," Roberts said.
With most....
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
The top priority of the master plan is building preservation, especially at the chapel and Long Barrack. The first donation for the $60 million capital campaign came from schoolchildren.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Davy Crockett and Fred Thompson are from the same town in Tennessee.. I always stand proud when I see how many Tennesseans and Mississippians came to Texas to help Texas gain their independence.
After losing San Antonio to the Texans during the Siege of Bexar, Mexican General Santa Anna determined to retake this key location and at the same time impress upon the Texans the futility of further resistance to Mexican rule.
With these goals, the vanguard of Santa Anna’s army arrived in San Antonio about 23 February 1836. Some 145 Texans in the area took refuge in the fortified grounds of an old mission known as the Alamo, under the joint command of William B. Travis (for the regular army) and Jim Bowie (for the volunteers).
Over the following two weeks, the Mexican forces continually strengthened to over 2000 troops. During the same period, a few reinforcements for the Texans answered Travis’ famous Appeal for Aid and managed to penetrate enemy lines and enter the Alamo grounds, bringing the total strength of the defenders to about 189 men.
After periodic bombardment, the siege ended on the morning of 6 March when the Mexicans storm the Alamo fortress. During the battle, all of the Texan defenders were killed. Several non-combatants were spared, including Susanna Dickenson, the wife of one of the defenders, Susanna’s baby, and a servant of Travis. Partly to reinforce his goal of terrorizing colonists in Texas, Santa Anna released this small party to inform Texans of the fate of the defenders.
Losses in the battle have been placed at 189 Texans against about 1600 for the Mexicans.
Better late than never. Are they going to fix up the basement?
But will it be safe from Ozzy Osbourne?
BTW, Gramps manned one of the cannon during the siege.
Didn't fly, but they'll be back.
You'll see the Mexican superchicken fly over the Alamo again someday -- in triumph.
If they get their way.
***Better late than never. Are they going to fix up the basement?***
Maybe they will find Pee Wee Hermman’s bike.
If I remember my history, the origional walls, except for the chapel, were blown up by retreating Santa Ana’s men.
To restore them would be to make nothing but a larger tourist trap, besides, many of the walls were across the street where the business section of town was, just around the corner was a strip joint.
Ok, that was in 1966.
Or maybe Geraldo can come for the big dig and open Al Capone's vault. Of course, Jimmy Hoffa could be in that basement, too.
Or maybe Geraldo can come for the big dig and open Al Capone's vault. Of course, Jimmy Hoffa could be in that basement, too.
Are we expecting another attack by those germans?
Germans?
Forget it, he's rolling.
The Mexicans won, thanks to JORGE` Bush.
The Alamo has become a joke, I’m sad to say.
I'm worried about the Kelo decision being used...
Remember Goliad, too!
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