SAN ANTONIO – The next steps for the $400 million Alamo Plan remain unclear, even as District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino tries to shore up support for the original intent of the plan.
In its entirety, the Alamo Plan includes repairs to original structures, a redesign of the plaza and a museum. But the Sep. 22 vote by the Texas Historical Commission to deny a permit to restore and relocate the Cenotaph -- a contentious part of the plan -- “puts the whole project in jeopardy,” Trevino had said following the decision.
A little more than a week later, the councilman, who is both the chairman of Alamo Master Plan Management Committee and a tri-chair of the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee, remains vague about what the next steps could be, beyond saying the management committee will meet Friday to discuss next steps and that “we’re committed to telling a complete story at the Alamo.”
Trevino says he was not surprised by the THC’s decision on the Cenotaph, and he expects future efforts to change other elements of the plan.
“There was something at least that was abundantly clear to me, that there is essentially now two paths on this project: the path that we’ve always been on, which is adhering to the vision and guiding principles and telling the complete story at the Alamo and completing a world-class project, a project that is inclusive of all the stories, inclusive in in so many ways," Trevino told the citizens advisory committee in a virtual meeting Wednesday morning. "And then there was the push by the lieutenant governor and John Nau for a very exclusive, 13-day, 1836 story. And certainly, I think this is something that, you know, I won’t entertain, and I think it’s misguided.”
Trevino asked the group to empower the other tri-chairs to put out a similar statement to the one released by the management committee.
That statement, released on Sep. 25, quotes Trevino as saying, “While elements may be at risk, the three organizations fo the Alamo Master Plan Management Committee, the Texas General Land Office, the City of San Antonio, and the Alamo Trust, remain dedicated to the Alamo Plan Guiding Principles and their constituents.”
“We do need to stick together on this. And I will tell you, I don’t think all is lost. I think we’ve invested a lot of energy on a good thing, on the right thing, and we can we can continue to build on that,” Trevino told the advisory committee members.
Though there was no vote during the Wednesday morning meeting. Trevino told KSAT afterward that they had heard “a consensus” from the members that they also wanted to reaffirm their commitment. As of air time on Wednesday, a statement had not been released.