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Hopefully the deterioration is not man-made.

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British rockers-- either defiling the Alamo area or preserving it; no in-betweens.

I thought I would update y'all with some interesting news, the GLO just purchased the Crockett Block and Woolworths. This would have the entire western side of the Plaza, save for the Hotel Indigo at the northwest corner, now owned by the state.

Good. I heard there was news on the horizon.

Is there a website that lays out the plans? I imagine it will be pretty grand in scope.

I have not seen one yet. I believe they are yet to be finalized.

I do know that $31.5 million has been set aside.

It would be great to have the plaza remodeled for the 2036 bicentennial.

Kind of busy day for Alamo News.

Cannon ceremoniously returned to Alamo

[url=http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Cannon-ceremoniously-returned-to-Alamo-6038049.php#next][/url]
[url=http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Cannon-ceremoniously-returned-to-Alamo-6038049.php#next][/url]

Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News

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Members of the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy, descendants of participants in the battle of The Alamo and others participate in a dedication ceremony for a historic cannon at The Alamo shrine on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015. The San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy hosted a dedication for the Alamo Defenders' cannon, which was bought by a family in an auction and donated in 2008 to the conservancy, which restored it and is loaning it to the Alamo. It hasn't concretely been proven, but experts believe the cannon was one of the 21 used to defend the Alamo during the historic battle of 1836. It has the exact same damage as other Alamo cannons that have been definitively linked to the battle. A press release states, "Both of the cannon's trunnions have been broken off and the fire hole is not spiked." The conservancy's Dr. Gregg Dimmick discussed the history of the cannon.

When Alamo researcher Rick Range called author and historian Gregg Dimmick claiming to have found a cannon that had been fired in the famed last stand against Mexico, Dimmick was skeptical.

"I'm a doubter," Dimmick told a crowd Saturday afternoon in front of the Alamo. "I've been shown lots of Jim Bowie's knives."

Since then, Range and Dimmick have not been able to prove definitively that the cannon was one of 21 used in the 1836 battle, but they have a lot of evidence. The cannon was dedicated Saturday in memory of John Alexander McRae, who bought it at an auction and did not live to see it returned to the Alamo, as he had wished.

Weighing close to 400 pounds, the cannon carries the Spanish royal crest and has the same damage pattern as other cannons used in the battle. It would be the ninth Alamo cannon with known whereabouts.
Local

According to a 1986 article in the Dallas Morning News, the cannon was sent from San Antonio in the 1880s to the Howard B. French family of Philadelphia as payment for a debt. A descendant of the French family told Dimmick that she had always been told the cannon was from the Alamo.

About a century later, Houston collector J.P. Bryan bought it and shipped it back to Texas. The cannon made its way to the Texas State Historical Association and was auctioned in a fundraiser to McRae, of North Texas.
McRae's daughter, Sue McRae Stover, agreed in 2008 to donate the cannon to the Alamo, saying her father had wanted it displayed there.

The San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy raised $5,000 to restore the cannon. Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory treated it for free in base solution, and many other volunteers helped bring the gun in late 2010 to the Alamo. They and Stover were honored Saturday as members of the "Alamo gun crew."

Dimmick said this could be the contested brass cannon that spawned the Battle of Gonzales, the first battle of the Texas Revolution. The Mexican military had demanded the cannon, then in the possession of rebel colonists, who replied, "There it is. Come and take it."
"If you consider how many brass cannons were in and out of the Alamo, I'd say there's maybe a 10 percent chance that this cannon is actually the come-and-take-it cannon," Dimmick said. "Ten percent's not high, but it's higher than most cannons."

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Article & video from KSAT 12 website on west wall acquisition.
http://www.ksat.com/news/state-plan-puts-rock-stars-vision-closer-to-reality

Effin Phil Collins.

So, the GLO finalized the purchase a couple of weeks ago.

I ran across this 3D model created by Edward Aranda with the three recently purchased structures removed:

He's put together a pretty cool 3D model over the years...

A lot of cool stuff on here.

Christmas at the Alamo. Looks best at night.

[url]http://www.ustream.tv/channel/alamocam[/url]

Love the thread, guys. Good stuff.

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So, the GLO finalized the purchase a couple of weeks ago.

I ran across this 3D model created by Edward Aranda with the three recently purchased structures removed:

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Trying to post this?

Weird. The link was fine last time I checked, but now shows it's broken.


Thanks.

Digs to begin.

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The lead expert in development of a long-term Alamo master plan called the mission and battle site one of the most complex historic locales in the world, one that will require years of study and fundraising to implement a first-rate overhaul.

George Skarmeas, design director with Preservation Design Partnership of Philadelphia, said a careful, ponderous examination of the Alamo area, through documentation and archaeological work, will guide a project that could have construction starting in 2021 and a "soft opening" in 2024.

"We need to understand what is under our feet," Skarmeas told City Council members Wednesday, describing the area as "a place where two continents came together."
A "dream team" of experts will begin a "systematic archaeological study" of the area next week to pinpoint the location of exterior portions of the 1836 battle compound, as well as acequias carefully engineered, river-fed water canals that had served the compound since its 1700s mission era.

Aside from about $42 million already committed by the city and state for Alamo improvements, the endowment has said it may privately try to raise hundreds of millions more for projects identified in the plan.
The first installment in a series of "public engagement sessions" is set for 6 p.m. Aug. 2, at a location to be announced, the endowment said in a release.

Skarmeas' presentation was followed by applause during the council work session a rare reaction, Mayor Ivy Taylor noted.

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[url=http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Careful-study-digs-to-shape-Alamo-plan-8332806.php][/url] describing the area as "a place where two continents came together."

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Huh? I guess I'm too literal, and being married to a geophysicist, that ain't right. Though to be honest, I suspect he means in a metaphorical, not geological sense.

Or perhaps people?

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[url=http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Careful-study-digs-to-shape-Alamo-plan-8332806.php][/url] describing the area as "a place where two continents came together."

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Huh? I guess I'm too literal, and being married to a geophysicist, that ain't right. Though to be honest, I suspect he means in a metaphorical, not geological sense.

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European + Native American

-we live in exciting times. Hope they quietly remove the cenotaph while they're at it. To follow the project-
http://reimaginethealamo.org/

Ok so as a kid I remember going to a dig site next to the water way going into the Hyatt, I think it was a radio shack before they gutted it and started digging, anyone else remember that? Guessing it was around 76'

Is this the dig you remember? The 1975-1976 dig in the Alamo Plaza, located the Low Barracks and confirmed the existence of a lunette outside the south wall.

http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15125coll8/id/750

The Radio Shack dig was conducted in 1979.

BTW - there is a 3-4 week dig currently underway to determine structural limits of the compound's walls and also to determine how the landscape has shifted. You can follow the work by streaming the daily briefing at 10:30 am from the Reimagine The Alamo Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ReimagineTheAlamo .

Also there will be a public meeting held by all the main players on the new Alamo master plan and surrounding complex on Aug. 2nd, 6-8 pm at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Ctr.

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... on Aug. 2nd, 6-8 pm

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Anyone interesting in going?

By they way, I bought a **** shack on the old Alamo Farmland about 3/4s of mile south of the compound. I want to get a metal detector out there at some point.

YouTube video of the Alamo master plan public meeting held on Aug 2nd. Skip to the 20 min. mark for the question and answer session from noted planner and designer Dr. George Skarmeas.

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Hope they quietly remove the cenotaph while they're at it.

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Because.....???????????

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Hope they quietly remove the cenotaph while they're at it.

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Because.....???????????

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Guess I'm a historical purist. To put it best, J. Frank Dobie said the 60'x40'x12' structure reminded him of a grain elevator.

Archaeologists working near The Alamo discovered a unique military artifact, the broken tip of a sword believed to be owned by a Mexican non-commissioned officer. The sword, known as a briquette, was known to be carried by Mexican infantry. Based on the breakage pattern and the torqueing of the tip, noted military historian Sam Nesmith believes that it may have been used between October 1835 and February 1836, and was likely used in Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos' fortification and construction of the lunette or some other feature related to the fortification at the south gate of the Alamo. The dig has also recovered other items. From 'Re-imagine The Alamo' Facebook page.


The original sword would have looked similar to this one -

U.S. Rep. Doggett Seeks Hipolito Garcia Federal Building for Alamo Plaza Redevelopment

Link

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The building's recent upgrades would mean it could be converted into an Alamo and Mission museum and visitor center with far less work than most period buildings would require.

But the multi-million dollar master planning effort, a collaboration between the City of San Antonio, the Texas General Land Office (GLO), and the Alamo Endowment, is still in the early stages of development as is funding for the plan's implementation. Some funding for plaza renovations have been proposed for the 2017-2022 Municipal Bond to the tune of $22 million. The City and State have already contributed substantial amounts, $17 million and $31 million, respectively, but nothing close to what could be an upward of $300 million project, according to rough estimates.

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An interesting twist.

On side note because I care about such things.

It's a damn shame they torn down the old Post Office to replace it with the above one.



Ignore the bad coloration of that postcard. I guess the newer one looks more "Federal" though.

Great old post card!

The Post Office/Federal Bldg. encroaches well inside the Alamo's north wall.

Yeah, nothing you can do about that. It's not going anywhere.