Meetings to focus on 1800s foundations of industries, church.

Virtual hearings set on project’s design and preservation

The public will soon weigh in on one of the biggest archaeological discoveries in recent years in San Antonio and its impact on Bexar County’s flood control, heritage and beautification project on the historic San Pedro Creek.

Two virtual meetings will be Feb. 4 and Feb. 16 during a comment period that runs through March 8. The meetings will focus on preservation and design issues concerning a cluster of 1800s foundations connected to at least three known industrial sites, as well as an 1870s location of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the oldest Black churches in Texas.

Archival research has revealed the foundations also are connected to the 19th century locations of Klemcke/menger Soapworks, Alamo Icehouse and Alamo Icehouse & Brewery. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that two foundations, the Klemcke/menger Soapworks, which dates from 1847 to 1859, and St. James Church, are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Everett Fly, a co-founder of the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, said the St. James site, used as a congregational gather

ing and worship space several years after the end of the Civil War, is an important physical remnant of Black history.

“We found articles and articles that described almost like nickel-and-dime raising the money to buy that land. These were people who were coming out of slavery,” Fly said during a webinar last week that focused on historic sites tied to working-class people of color.

One key issue is how large an area encompassing the adjoining foundations should be structurally preserved as part of an updated design of an entertainment plaza in the county-funded San Pedro Creek Cultural Park. The archaeological site, unearthed during construction in late

February 2020, is on the creek's east bank, across the creek from the Alameda Theater, at the southwest corner of Houston

Street and Camaron Street.

The San Antonio River Authority and Corps of Engineers will jointly host the virtual public meetings, provide information on the archaeological discoveries and gather feedback on design options for the site. Although preservation advocates

Photos by Billy Calzada / Staff photographer The foundation of St. James AME Church can be seen next to construction equipment along Houston Street by San Pedro Creek.

A construction worker gives attention Monday to a pillar on a walkway under construction along Houston Street over San Pedro Creek.

Billy Calzada / Staff photographer Construction crews work Monday on the bed of San Pedro Creek beneath Houston Street, where important archaeological discoveries have been made.