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Bexar County commissioners this week heard a briefing that informed them that the half-a-billion-dollar makeover of Alamo Plaza remains on schedule.
The city, county, and state funded project is designed to make a visit to the Alamo a bigger and more educational experience, on par with other major U.S. historical landmarks.
The Valero Plaza, a comfortable green gathering space, opened this week. The Visitor Center and Museum across from the mission-turned fortress is on track to open in 2027.
The Alamo Visitor Center and Museum will contain many new exhibits and even a 4D theater that seeks to bring the battle experience alive with simulated smoke, seats that shake, and cold ember sparks that fly in the air. Filming for the movie it will show is now underway, according to the Alamo Trust.
A museum planning committee has provided input to make sure the museum tells the whole story of all the peoples and cultures involved before, during, and after the 1836 battle for Texas Independence from Mexico.
But County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores questioned Alamo Trust Executive Director Kate Rogers about whether people of color on the committee had indeed been heard.
Rogers assured Clay-Flores that they were heard: "I think the committee members have been involved in the design throughout, and they will see their contributions reflected when the museum opens. And I'll just remind the court that our goal at the trust is to make sure people, all visitors, when they come to the Alamo in the future, they see themselves in the story."
County Commissioner Grant Moody agreed with Rogers: "I just want to say from my experience, and obviously I've been to several committee meetings, I feel everyone does have a voice and has been included in those conversations."
Clay-Flores responded to Moody: "And my point, with all due respect Commissioner Moody, like I said last year when you said, 'from your experience,' — yes, from your experience as a white man. I didn't say white people in that committee feel unsafe and silenced. I said people of color, so, yes, Commissioner Moody, you are correct."
Clay-Flores asked Rogers to submit more details in writing on the Alamo's community input and outreach efforts as a part of continued county funding.
The county contributed $25 million to the Alamo Plaza makeover. The city has committed tens of millions of dollars too, but most of the half-a-billion-dollar project comes from the state.
Review the Alamo Plaza presentation to commissioners here.
