SAN ANTONIO – Mayor Ron Nirenberg opposes any gates or barriers or “anything that limits public access” to Alamo Plaza.
Nirenberg walked through the plaza last week sharing his thoughts on the Alamo Master Plan.
“There have been protests, demonstrations,” said Nirenberg. “Presidential campaigns have come here. It has been the community center of San Antonio for so long and it needs to remain that way.”
The plan is a collaboration between the Texas General Land Office, which manages the Alamo, city leaders and the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee.
Public meetings, which were crowded and at times heated, have helped collect community input on the plan.
That input is being factored into the Alamo Master Plan as it evolves, according to a spokesman for the GLO.
Renderings of the proposed project were released in June.
The plan includes shutting down Alamo Street in front of the shrine and extending the plaza to create a large pedestrian area.
“If you look at that roadway right there where the vehicles are driving by, that's a burial ground,” Nirenberg said. “I am supportive of closing the roadway so long as there is a traffic mitigation strategy that's well vetted. And also we work on renewing traditions- continuing the traditions of the parades.”
Some groups, the Battle of Flowers Association, in particular, have been vehemently against shutting down the road because the Battle of Flowers parade during Fiesta has traditionally passed in front of the Alamo.
Some renderings of the project show those gates or barriers in the plaza that Nirenberg opposes. The GLO says discussions are ongoing about where any possible gates may be placed and what access would be provided.
The plan also calls for relocation of the cenotaph, which stands outside the long barracks of the mission.
The cenotaph commemorates the Battle of the Alamo and the defenders who died.
Relocating the cenotaph to the south side of Alamo Plaza has become perhaps the most controversial part of the plan.
“There is a proposal to make it the centerpiece of walking into the new Alamo Plaza grounds. I think that has some merit,” Nirenberg said. “But truthfully, the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee as well as the public in general are going to inform where that cenotaph is located.”
Nirenberg wants to see the buildings across Alamo Street from the Alamo preserved, not torn down.
Part of the proposed plan, he says, includes demolition of some of those buildings to make the entrance to the Alamo wider and more accessible from Losoya Street.
He supports a museum to be housed by the some of the buildings across from the Alamo, which is also included in the plan.
“People come to San Antonio to see the Alamo and learn about the plaza,” Nirenberg said. “And part of that happens when you walk around the space, but I think there also needs to be a space where we can put artifacts.”
The Alamo Master Plan has not been finalized. A spokesman for the GLO says everything from the proposed gates to relocation of the cenotaph is still being discussed.
In fact, the GLO is getting input from Texans statewide.
Once the plan is complete, the San Antonio City Council must vote on it.
There is no deadline for completion.