SAN ANTONIO – The Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle and Museum has been recommended to close as a museum in a proposal by the U.S. Army Center of Military History.
If the proposal is approved, the facility is planned to be rebranded as an education center for the public, according to the Executive Director of the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Charles Bowery.
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Background
On June 4, via a social media post, the U.S. Army Center of Military History announced that several army museums would be set to either close or consolidate their facilities.
The post said this was a choice to help direct military resources toward “readiness and lethality.” Additionally, maintenance backlogs and insufficient staffing were listed as reasons for the impending closures.
While exact closure dates and locations were not in place at the time, the post said the plan was to reduce 41 museum activities at 29 locations to 12 field museums and four training support facilities at those locations.
The future Army Museum Enterprise is designed to best support Soldier training and public education within our available budget and professional staff,“ the U.S. Army Center of Military History said. ”The consolidation plan ensures the widest possible access to the highest quality museums within available Army resources."
The process is set to continue through the 2029 Fiscal Year.
Fort Sam Houston
After hearing that Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle and Museum, a historic icon in the San Antonio area, might be among these closures, KSAT reached out to the museum for more information.
We were transferred to Bowery, who confirmed that the Fort Sam Houston Museum had been recommended for closure as an army museum.
However, he said, nothing has been set in stone, and the plan was to keep the facility open in some capacity.
When asked why the museum had been chosen as one of the locations to be “closed,” Bowery said it was due to a variety of factors, such as:
- Number of attendees
- Money to maintain the facility
- Fort Sam Houston’s access to both the military and the public
- Whether it was a dedicated training center for soldiers
Plus, Bowery said, both a reduction in staff and a challenge in the budget meant the “situation was coming to a head.”
According to the museum’s website, its goal is to tell the story of Fort Sam Houston from 1845 to the present day.
Being one of the oldest active Army posts in America, Fort Sam Houston is one of the reasons San Antonio is known as “Military City, USA.”
Next steps
If the proposal for the Fort Sam Houston Museum is approved, Bowery said the U.S. Army Center of Military History would work with the community of San Antonio to keep the facility in place, with some noticeable changes.
The plan involves removing any artifacts valuable to the Army, some of which are currently stored, and relocating them to Army museum locations that are still planning to remain unchanged.
The Fort Sam Houston Museum would be run by a private organization or volunteers, who would then rebrand this as an education center for the public.
While this rebranding is occurring, with the help of the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the facility will be temporarily closed to the public for a period of around three to four months, preferably during a time of typically low visitation, such as the winter season.
Bowery described the potential new facility as a cultural center for the public, without having the responsibility or curation of an Army museum.
Bowery told KSAT the timeline for this change, and whether it happens to begin with, all depends on whether the U.S. Secretary of the Army approves the proposal.
If approved, Army museums would begin the transition over two years.
According to Bowery, he hopes to begin the transition as soon as possible.
This would mean the Fort Sam Houston Museum could see a temporary closure as early as the beginning of 2026, though this is only an estimate.
Overall, Bowery wanted to emphasize that the Fort Sam Museum would still be open to San Antonio in some capacity, whether or not this proposal passes through.