Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
The demolition of the Institute of Texan Cultures has been halted until at least April 15.
The Express-News reported that on Wednesday afternoon, the parties involved agreed to await a court date already scheduled for next week.
Those parties are the building’s owner, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and the group trying to halt demolition, the Conservation Society of San Antonio.
Video posted on the Conservation Society's Facebook page on Tuesday showed what appeared to be an outer wall pulled from the structure and rubble on the ground.
The Conservation Society said on Tuesday it would seek an injunction to stop demolition. On Wednesday, the agreement to wait until an April 15 hearing on the matter was announced.
The ITC was originally deeded to the University of Texas System to be used for the public. But Lewis Vetter with the Conservation Society said during a news conference last week that UTSA did an end-around to circumvent the law.
Universities are allowed to demolish buildings to build new educational ones, but the city intends to build something else entirely.
“The nature of our lawsuit is that the city and UTSA are not following the rules prescribed for buildings such as this,” explained Art Martinez de Vara, the group's attorney, said last week.
He added: “Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act prohibits preemptive demolition of historical buildings with certain designations, including the one that it has, and so you're not supposed to be demolishing a building without first conducting certain studies, such as feasibility of reuse."
“That deed restriction is for the building to be used, and that's why we say, make that part of the Project Marvel,” Vetter said.
Project Marvel is what the city is calling the sports and entertainment district it will build after the ITC is demolished.
In a statement last week, UTSA said that it is the university's policy to not comment on pending litigation. It added: “Our efforts to redevelop the Texas Pavilion property have been and will continue to be in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.”
