Plan in works for fortifying the Alamo

San Antonio Express-News ^ | 08/05/2007 | Scott Huddleston

[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....

[cowdog77]

Remember Goliad, too!”
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Yes, remember Goliad.....fine Texans.

[Liberty Valance]

The Alamo
webcam
http://www.mysanantonio.com/multimedia/webcams/

[vetvetdoug]

Wayne and Widmark defended the Alamo located in Brackettsville, Texas, about seven years before Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin robbed a bank there. I believe that the original Alamo was hard to defend from the snipers in the Joske’s of Texas building.