The Texas Historical Commission has approved plans to resurrect a portion of the lunch counter in the old Woolworth Building downtown that played a role in ending segregated dining areas in 1960.
Sit-in protests were staged at the counter to call for an end to racist "whites only" dining practices common during the era.
"It was one of the first lunch counters to be desegregated in Texas and an important place for the history of civil rights in Texas," said Chris Florance, communications director for the Texas Historical Commission.
The counter will be featured as one of seven local dining establishments that peacefully integrated in 1960, according to officials at the Alamo.
Renovation of the 1921 Woolworth Building is part of a new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum expected to be completed in 2027.
The center and museum are part of the grander $500 million local and state supported makeover of Alamo Plaza. The ultimate goal of the makeover is to create a bigger and more educational experience for visitors to the state's most iconic tourist attraction. Officials are trying to recreate as much of the original footprint of the battlefield as they can in what is now the heart of urban San Antonio. A new collections building has also been opened.
Part of that education is telling the full story of all the peoples and cultures associated with events before, during, and after the 1836 Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution against Mexico for independence. The Woolworth Building sits on Alamo Plaza.
The famous 300-year-old facade of the Alamo with its rounded top is recognizable around the world. The mission-turned-fortress, along with other San Antonio missions, is a World Heritage site.
The commission heard an update on the never-ending battle to preserve the facade.
"The atmospheric conditions, the wear and tear, weather, pollution, sun, all these things over time impact the facade of these structures," Florance said.
The commission also authorized event space that will be located atop the nearby Crockett and Woolworth Buildings.
"We extend our profound appreciation to the Texas Historical Commission for their support in granting the architectural permit for the forthcoming Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, said Dr. Kate Rogers, executive director of the Alamo Trust, Inc.
"This approval signifies a transformative step in the realization of the Alamo Plan," she added. "We are grateful to the THC and to the members of the Alamo Museum Planning Committee who are helping with the interpretation of the historic lunch counter and the future Civil Rights exhibit, which will serve as a reminder of the peaceful desegregation which partially took place on the historic grounds of the Alamo."
