QUICK, GIT A ROPE

America's 'most disappointing' tourist attraction is getting a $550M makeover - but it's sparked FURY among locals as huge history project pushes out beloved businesses

 

By Maryann Martinez

 

Daily Mail

Apr 21, 2024

 

The Alamo most visitors know is actually just the church, whose façade is known around the world, and the neighboring Long Barracks

 

The birthplace of Texas liberty is getting a $550 million makeover after being dubbed one of the America's most disappointing tourist attractions. 

Work is underway to restore the famous Alamo to what it looked like during the time of the 1836 Texas Revolution and enhance the visitor experience. 

But the project has sparked uproar among business owners who have since built on top of and around the site. 

Some have shut up shop, selling their precious real estate to developers only for it to be torn down.  One was forced to leave through the use of eminent domain when the city took him to court.

The Alamo, where some 200 heroes died after refusing to surrender to the Mexican Army in an effort to gain independence for Texas, attracts a huge 2.5 million visitors every year. 

But many are surprised there isn't much to do after a quick visit to the Alamo church and a stop inside the gift shop for a Davy Crockett coonskin cap.

 

The Alamo was under siege by the Mexican Army in 1836, who promised to crush rebellious American settlers in Texas. After 13 days of fighting, every Texas rebel fighting for Texas independence was killed on March 6, but their deaths helped give birth to the fight for Texas independence from Mexico

Construction has been underway at the Alamo in recent years to bring new structures to life

A rendering of what the Alamo complex looked like in 1836 

 

The average person spent just eight minutes at the historical site in 2016, prompting the state and City of San Antonio to reimagine the space. 

'The Alamo has been consistently listed as one of the most disappointing landmarks in our nation,' said George P. Bush in 2017, who was then the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, the custodian of the Alamo.

'It is our simple goal to improve the visitor experience for guests and all Texans.'

The Alamo Plan was hatched that year with the three goals in mind. 

The first is to preserve the 300-year-old church and existing Long Barrack - which is what most people who have been to the Alamo have seen in years past. 

The mission itself was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015 and is actually a shrine - the most sacred and revered place for most Texans.

The Long Barracks were originally quarters and offices for Spanish missionaries. 

 

Phase 1 of the Alamo Plan calls for the Alamo Church and Long Barracks to be preserved

The Alamo Trust has amassed $504 million to bring the Alamo into a new era

An aerial view of what the Alamo will look like after work is completed in 2027

 

During the Battle of the Alamo, many Texas defenders ended up in the barracks and made their last stand against Santa Anna's soldiers there. 

The second pillar of the Alamo Plan aims to recapture the original footprint of the 4.5 acre compound in 1836 that includes homes, schools and was a full community.

After securing $550 million in funds for the renovation, construction started in 2016 to dig up the original perimeter. 

An immediate problem is that modern-day San Antonio has been built on top of the Alamo's ruins. 

Some structures have been added while the state and city got to work clearing the way in places where existing businesses and buildings were located. 

Anyone visiting the monument today can see the Palisade, the defensive wall fortified with canons where it's believed Davy Crockett and others from Tennessee were positioned during the final battle.

 

The Palisade, the defensive wall fortified with canons where it's believed Davy Crockett and others from Tennessee where positioned during the final battle of the Alamo, was added in 2021

Alamo commander Col. William B. Travis led the rebels in the famous battle

An 18-pounder canon exhibit now stands at what would have been the southwest corner of the complex during 1836. 

 

There is also an 18-pounder canon exhibit at what would have been the southwest corner of the complex during 1836. 

The canon was famously fired when the Mexican army, which greatly outnumbered the Texas rebels, flew a flag of no quarter, which means surrender or die. 

Colonel William B. Travis defiantly opened fire from that spot in response. 

The new additions are interpretations, not recreations, explained Dr. Kate Rogers, the executive director of the Alamo Trust.

'Its means that these are modern interpretations of what these structures would have looked like,' she added.

'It takes a lot of time and research on the work of Alamo historians, alongside, outside experts and archeologists.

The final part of the new vision calls for the creation of a five-story visitor center and museum.

 

Modern-day San Antonio is built on top of the ruin of the Alamo

A rendering of what the Visitor Center and Museum will look like at the Alamo

 

Tourist traps across the street from the Alamo, like Ripley's Believe it or Not, Tomb Rider and the Guinness World Record Museum, closed in 2022. 

While those businesses were forced out, the buildings they were in, directly across the street from the Alamo, are historical and will be preserved.

Those structures will house the 132,000-square foot visitor center museum over five stories. 

'What's cool about these buildings is that west wall of the Alamo fort or the mission, would have actually run right through the structures. So we can do a recreation inside and show visitors where the wall once stood,' Rogers added.

While most local shops took offers estimated at being between $1-3 million from the Alamo Trust to leave, Vince Cantu was the lone holdout. 

Cantu owned Moses Rose's Hideout, a bar named for a Frenchman at the Alamo who was the only fighter who did not cross the line in sand drawn by Col. Travis, giving anyone who did not wish to die at the fort an opportunity to save themselves.

 

Moses Rose's Hideout has now been shuttered after a two-year battle with the city of San Antonio and the Alamo Trust

Moses Rose's Hideout owner Vince Cantu poses with a supporter in his fight not to lose his bar in 2023

 

When the Alamo Trust decided it needed to take over the watering hole for the new visitor center, Cantu turned down numerous buyout offers, claiming he was being lowballed. 

At one point, Cantu demanded $17 million, reported local station KENS 5. 

At an impasse, San Antonio's City Council voted to use eminent domain to shutter Mose Roses last year. 

Finally, Cantu agreed to sell the bar he'd owned for 12 years after the city sued him in probate court in August. 

It's unclear how much money he walked away with, but the last known public offer made to Cantu was for $5.26 million, up from an initial offer of $2 million in July 2020, according to the San Antonio Express News.

Cantu countered with $10 million - $6 million for the property and $4 million for the loss of his business. 

Throughout his two year battle with the government over his land, Cantu insisted his fight was over the rights of private property owners, not a money grab.  

'The Government will soon demolish our building and begin the construction of the Alamo Museum, partially under the site of Moses Roses Hideout, on dirt that has not been touched in over 150 years,' Cantu posted to Facebook after reaching a settlement.

'If any artifacts are discovered under our building that are worthy to display anywhere, the Government will acknowledge, by using museum labels, that it came from property sold by our family's business....

'...this concession was the respect we needed to demonstrate and declare that any transaction made on Alamo soil must recognize the private property rights for which the Alamo Defenders fought and died almost 200 years ago.'

 

A rendering of what the inside of the visitor center at the Alamo will look when it's completed next year

The Alamo's visitor will include a state of the art 4D theatre 

The new Alamo complex will include several learning space for the thousands of children who visit the shrine every year

Several outdoor terraces with views of the shrine will also be part of the visitor center

 

Both the Alamo Trust and city leaders hailed the buyout as a crucial step in moving forward with preserving the Alamo. 

A 4D theatre on the second floor of visitor center will be built on top of what used to be the bar.

'Think about IMAX plus 4D, so as you reach the climax of the battle, your seat will shake, the cannon will fire, the embers will fly and smoke will fill the room,' Rogers described.

The museum will also display the 10,000 year history of the Alamo, starting with the Native Americans who lived on the land long before the Spanish arrived, the Franciscan friars who lived in the colonial mission, the Mexicans who ruled after. 

The space will house the vast personal artifact collection of Alamo buff and British singer Phil Collins.

 

British rock star and Alamo fanatic Phil Collins donated his vast collection of Alamo artifacts to the people of Texas in 2014

One of swords belonging to General Antonio López de Santa Anna, who was president of Mexico in 1836, is part of the collection donated by Phil Collins

King Charles visiting the Alamo in 1986

Pope John Paul II rode past the Alamo during a visit to San Antonio in 1987

 

'People ask all the time why did a British rock star get so interested in collecting artifacts from the Alamo,' Rogers quipped.

The former Genesis singer and drummer fell in love with the Alamo when he was aged five and had amassed a vast collection that included a rifle and leather pouch owned by Davy Crockett, and an original Jim Bowie knife.

He donated the collection to the People of Texas in 2014. 

The Collins collection is already on display on the grounds of the Alamo.

'What we want is to create a world-class visitor experience that unforgettable, and visitors can't help but go home and tell their friends and family all that they learned, all that they came to understand about the Alamo history,' Rogers said.