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The Alamo Cenotaph monument on the grounds of the Alamo was rededicated Tuesday after several months of restoration. The ceremony, held on Veterans Day, came a few weeks after a shake-up with the Alamo’s leadership.
The nearly 60-foot monument has been under repairs since January to fix masonry, a drainage system and structural issues. But a shadow has been cast on the Alamo since mid-October when a social media post about Indigenous Peoples Day was removed and, a few days later, the Alamo Trust's President and CEO Kate Rogers was removed from her position.
The Alamo is managed by the Alamo Trust, a non-profit tasked by the State of Texas to run the day-to-day operations and oversee construction of a half-a-billion-dollar redevelopment project. The Texas General Land Office is the custodian of the Alamo, run by Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.
Rogers resigned last month after political pressure and a public lambasting from Lt. Governor Dan Patrick over a dissertation she wrote in 2023 regarding the presence of Indigenous people at the Alamo in its earlier history. Hope Andrade was tapped to become CEO after Rogers' exit. Previously, Andrade served as the Texas Secretary of State and before that, as the chair of the Alamo Management Committee.
When asked about the overall plan for the Alamo following the controversy, Buckingham on Tuesday said plans for the Alamo’s story remained the same.
“The project is going full steam ahead. Hope Andrade is doing a great job. And so, we're cooking with gas, as they say. We're going to do great things and really make a visit to the Alamo worthy of the significance of the events,”
Buckingham did not directly address Rogers' departure when asked, instead commenting about the reverence of the cenotaph and its history. “Today, we're here to celebrate this beautiful monument and this amazing project that's going to bring a lot of people to San Antonio and prosperity for the city,” she said.
In a follow-up question about Indigenous representation at the Alamo, Buckingham said it’s included in the plan.
“This museum has always had the plan to discuss the battle in the context of time, from the early Native Americans all the way through to how it affects pop culture today. And those plans have not changed,” she said.
The 189 names of the Alamo defenders were read on Tuesday, the 85th anniversary of the original dedication of the cenotaph in 1940. The monument pays tribute to those who were killed during the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
Newly installed Alamo Trust President and CEO Hope Andrade called the Alamo grounds "the birthplace of Texas’ identity" and said there’s a plan in place to keep the cenotaph from seeing future damage.
“We also now have a long-term maintenance plan in place to ensure that this monument to Texas heritage never again falls into such disrepair, see, because the cenotaph must always stand right here where it has always stood as a permanent reminder of what this site represents,” she said.
Original plans for the Alamo's redesign included moving the cenotaph from the battle ground where it now stands. That plan was scrapped after opposition from conservative groups and a denial vote from the Texas historical commission in 2020.
The complete redevelopment plans include a museum across the street from the Alamo, and completion is expected in the Fall of 2027.
