Ladies and Gentlemen:

As architects, we believe that the Alamo Plaza Master Plan in its final form can restore both the Alamo and the integrity of this historic place in our city. We applaud this incredible effort. All the citizens in our city and our state want this plan to succeed. 

To be a vital destination for everyone, it is equally important to have the plaza be a dynamic and welcoming civic space as it has been for the past 200 years – perhaps the most memorable place in the state.

The purchase by the State of Texas of the plaza’s western historic buildings and their eventual adaptation into a museum is a brilliant part of the master plan. The removal of the cenotaph and the raised planters around it will create a stronger plaza and will more successfully recall the spirit of the Alamo grounds.

However, the removal of large old oaks, themselves an integral part of the history of Alamo Plaza, will create a very hot and unwelcoming place. As you may know “Alamo” is “cottonwood” in Spanish, and as such perhaps the proposed acequia could irrigate a grove of Los Alamos. 

Mission courtyards were the center of community activity and Misión San Antonio de Valero’s must remain a part of ours: open, welcoming, and inclusive.

The plaza, as it is currently envisioned with a glass wall separating the Alamo grounds from the rest of the city, creates a walled destination for Alamo visitors and inhibits the use of the space for the public. Being able to freely move into the plaza from any direction is a pivotal character in all great plazas. We feel that the plaza should be both a historic place and a vibrant public space fully connected to the city. 

The city must undertake a broader study of downtown’s streets and plazas, implementing a solution that keeps downtown connected north to south and east to west for vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians.

Like all good master plans, the first plan is the beginning of the conversation. We should honor the Alamo and Alamo Plaza by having a thoughtful “listening” period to allow the plan to get better (building upon the successes of the River North, Broadway, Hemisfair, and Southtown Master Plans). Alamo Plaza should be a memorable place for citizens to return to again and again, a place that strengthens our city.

On May 11, we hope the City Council will approve the master plan conditional on the need for a continuing process that keeps the plaza as a connected, civic space rather than a controlled-access outdoor museum. The plaza must be a welcoming and integral part of our city, balancing the historic aspects of the Alamo with the civic needs of the plaza. 

The master plan process should enable citizens of the city and state, together with stakeholders, to thoughtfully consider and then shape a plan which ultimately creates the vibrant heart our downtown deserves. For more than 200 years, the Alamo and the plaza have been shaping our community and our citizens. The Alamo is truly the heart and soul of our city, welcoming everyone to honor our history and our vibrant culture.   

We congratulate the Alamo Commission, the City of San Antonio, and the Texas General Land Office for a great beginning to a plan that should lead to a transformative place.

Respectfully,

David Lake, FAIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects

Ted Flato, FAIA

 Partner, Lake|Flato Architects

Gregory S. Papay, FAIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects

Andrew Herdeg, FAIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects 

Robert Harris, FAIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects

Matthew K. Morris, FAIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects 

Karla Greer, AIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects

Kim Monroe, AIA

Partner, Lake|Flato Architects 

Irby Hightower, FAIA

Principal, Alamo Architects

Billy Lawrence, AIA

Principal, Alamo Architects

Mike Lanford, AIA

Principal, Alamo Architects

Mike McGlone, AIA

Principal, Alamo Architects

Jerry Lammers, AIA 

Principal, Alamo Architects

Jim Bailey, AIA

Associate Principal, Alamo Architects

Ariel Chavela

Associate Principal, Alamo Architects

Lawrence W. Speck, FAIA

Professor, UT Austin School of Architecture

Richard M. Archer, FAIA

Principal, Overland Partners

Madison Smith

Principal, Overland Partners

This letter was written by architect David Lake, co-founder of Lake|Flato, and his colleagues Ted Flato, Irby Hightower, and Billy Lawrence. It includes a growing list of signatures and is being circulated...

17 replies on “Architects: Alamo Plaza Should Be ‘Fully Connected’ to City”

  1. Thank you, architects. The biggest problem is the wall, although north/south transportation is a great concern, too. For years, dedicated planners for change at The Alamo have expressed their desire for it to be walled as it was. They started by talking about a line in the pavement to indicate the wall locations. Now it has progressed to a true physical wall which will ruin everything. There is an alternative: a wall that exists only temporarily every day using the original line plan with inlaid fountain nozzles. Every hour or every 3 hours the fountain could activate for 5 minutes so that the original wall locations can be truly seen without cutting The Alamo permanently off from the world. (Also, just imagine how those who care so much about The Alamo are going to react to all the etched graffiti that will occur on the glass wall if it is built!! Water is better than glass for this purpose.)

    1. I like the water wall idea. Something similar exists on the main Christian Science Church grounds in Boston and it attracts children and birds.

  2. Morning Y’all

    I am writing this email out of total and complete frustration that our fabled government (Austin, Texas) seems to have a hearing problem in just what in the blue blazes is going on down in San Antonio Texas and this so called, “Re-imagining” the Alamo area. I am aware of meetings (2 so far) that have yielded the Texas General Land Office just shoving down the General Public’s throats what they want; which is to:

    1) modify the Alamo by adding glass walls.
    2) installing a rooftop gardens
    3) installing a place where you can protest
    4) 24 armed guards
    5) a reflecting pool
    6) and God only knows what else

    The Texas General Land Office has no regard for any public input, doesn’t care what the General Public has to say, isn’t listening to what the General Public has to say and quite frankly, couldn’t give a rip what People have to say of think. It’s as almost as if they have a hidden agenda and want it implemented before they get caught.

    Question: is it just me or are they in “ca-hoots” with another Texas Government Agency? Like say for instance Housing Urban and Development??

    I digress.

    Recently, the San Antonio Express published an article about the whats – ie – the what is happening with the Alamo and her proposal But……

    Q: What’s to become of the nearby exhibit at RiverCenter Mall, “The Battle for Texas” The exhibit”??
    Q: What’s to become of the Phil Collins Alamo collection?
    Q:

    I do not feel that that nice newspaper didn’t go far enough in its coverage of this issue.

    I feel that some sort of a follow up from some entity would be nice.

    Say some coverage from the Underdog in this:

    THE GENERAL PUBLIC

    We do not feel that we are being listened to and press coverage on this would be very nice and a very humbling experience.

    Yes, I am not alone on this topic. There are others. We are on various Facebook and other Social media Websites. We need your help if Big Brother is to listen to us.

    You do have my email address. Please rep[y back thru my email as hope and well, pray that one of you will pick this up and follow it through.
    I dont mind talking with you even over the telephone as well.

    We have no issue. We just want the Alamo and the Mission grounds to be treated with the dignity that she deserves and are growing tired of the city of San Antonio literally peeing on her.

    Thank you –

  3. And what a distinguished group this is–professionals who have breathed life into San Antonio residential and commercial spaces, while respecting historical place and time. It is my fervent hope that they will be heard. So many of the design elements put forward in the Alamo plan ignore the lives of San Antonians, whether it’s removing the canopy which protects those on the plaza from the sun, or strangling the plaza by removing its life supply–the vibrancy of San Antonio’s cultural sphere.

    1. Well said Alyssa! Wish I had said what you said and how you said it (especially “…life supply–the vibrancy of San Antonio’s cultural sphere.”)
      Just lovely and succinct, thank you!

  4. BUNK. Architects and developers all over the multiple planning committees deciding what to do with the peoples’ Alamo.
    Congratulations my foot!!! The Establishment of Architects & Developers is running away with the Alamo & the HemisFair Park! Tried to do it with Brackenridge Park. BUNK!

  6. It is also instructive to include in the design, the origins of the Alamo’s original purpose and intent that was Mision San Antonio de Valero–a catholic mission. While it had been secularized by the time of the conflict, mission life was filled with the hustle and bustle and daily goings-on of its people, including making of work instruments, gardening for basic staples, religious instruction, and similar exercises by the missionaries with the native peoples. The plaza need not serve only as a battlefield recreation, but a continuous living space for study and reflection of a monument to the testament of so many groups that made up San Antonio’s past and diverse history

  8. Thanks most of all to Bob Rivard for allowing us to write articles and for public comment to follow.

  11. Thank you Robert Rivard and Lake/Flato, et al
    We must. MUST do everything we can to ensure the preservation of the trees and the essence and history of this previous part of of this city’s history. No more giant concrete carnivals, please. The tourists make us money, but the citizens make us while. This is so important and should be an important issue with input and a vision that will benefit all of us by preserving the essence and the natural surroundings.

  12. Like I stated before, the gang members will use this glass wall to their advantage to promote their gang symbols by using any means to their disposal by etching their gang symbols and sayings into the the glass. This glass needs to be acid resistant as the gangs can use hydrofluoric acid markers to permanently etch their crap into the glass. Hydrofluroic acid etches glass, permanently frosting it like the inside of older incandescent lamps. I just think the glass wall is a bad idea.

  13. Thank you David Lake et al., for your thoughts on the Alamo master plan. If I had a bumper sticker for vehicles, I would hand them out: “Keep the Cenotaph in place!” and “A cenotaph for indigenous peoples!” Not very catchy, and from reading the articles and comments it looks like I’m one of a very few who want Coppini’s piece to stay front and center where it is, so as to be front and center in all minds.

    However, it is relieving to see distinguished persons with much more clout seem to be against the glass walls, although I would love it if they directly said it.

    Keep the old oaks in place! (another bumper sticker)

    If it’s going to be an open plaza as envisioned, and if any “water-walls” are put up, as suggested a couple of times,
    —
    (but what about the inevitable water restrictions during the long hot summers? Also, sounds like an expensive installation with a big maintenance and repair budget for over the years. I still like my “tree-walls with historical markers” idea, especially with some cottonwoods in the mix)
    —
    at least they could serve as a cooling device from the hot sun. Still, even under a non-restricted water usage stage, how much water would burst forth for even 5 minutes? This ain’t the tropics, and are we still expecting about 1 million more people in about 20-25 years?

    I hope with an open plaza and the in-place Cenotaph and a nearby indigenous peoples cenotaph, many sacred ceremonies and solemn public events can occur with minimal danger of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

    — Let another “line in the sand” bumper sticker be made: “No damnable glass walls!” —

    Still, I look forward to the eventual new look (here and at the other four UNESCO World Heritage missions), and am excited that I will one day walk the Alamo grounds without worrying about any vehicular traffic and wondering why Ripley’s is around. Thank you too, Robert Rivard!

  14. What about REPAIRING the Alamo’s crumbling limestone structure and securing the roo first? Secondly, why not rid the ugly tourist traps and tee shirt shops from across the street?
    There are some old historical buildings across the street…..why destroy the 150 years of that history in an effort to reconstruct the grounds of the Alamo.
    There is something to be said for just driving by that historical mission in the heart of San Antonio, and for god’s sakes….don’t destroy the TREES!
    There are so many improvements that could be made just within the confines of the present grounds of the Alamo. Take a lesson from the visitor center at Gettysburg.!

  15. As this article concurs with my comments on the plaza in the first “great reveal” meetings it is good to see agreement. (Express News article quoted.) I had an office near Alamo Plaza for three years and have used this space countless times, as have all the people at Lake/Flato. When you are involved in the space that much, you begin to understand how it is used.
    Mark E. Kellmann, Architect, NCARB

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