Alamo prepares for facelift

Critics call for broader focus beyond legendary battle

DALLAS, TEXAS— As the Alamo prepares for a facelift worth $48 million, some critics say the landmark — one of the most recognizable in U.S. history — must be transformed from a one-dimensional attraction that’s struggled to find its footing amid the clamour of downtown San Antonio.

The 18th-century former Spanish mission is poised to undergo one of its most significant alterations as Texas moves to buy nearby commercial buildings and hire a firm to develop a master plan over the next year that could change the area dramatically.

Some with a stake in the area say nearby attractions like Ripley’s Haunted Adventure are too garish for the setting where 190 men died defending the mission against the forces of Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Others say the landmark focuses too much on the battle that eventually gave way to Texas independence and not enough on its role as a cultural and commercial gateway.

“History in and of itself will not sell,” said Davis Phillips, president and CEO of Phillips Entertainment. “History, presented in the right way, can sell.”

Phillips owns three Alamo Plaza attractions including Ripley’s and Guinness World Records Museum. The Texas General Land Office is moving to acquire the buildings housing those businesses across from the Alamo and possibly incorporate them into the mission’s original footprint. Phillips’ ventures and other plaza businesses presumably would be relocated and the buildings used for other purposes, such as a museum with more than 200 artifacts donated by musician and Alamo aficionado Phil Collins.

State lawmakers have approved spending $31million for repurposing the site. San Antonio officials have OK’d spending $17 million. But both state and city officials say private donations could raise the tally by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Phillips said most visitors only spend a short time at the mission before heading to nearby businesses.

“There’s been 170 years of development in the area,” he said. “What I’m trying to tell everybody is that San Antonio is the No. 1 destination for leisure (in Texas) so let’s be careful to not harm that.”

Daughters of the Republic of Texas president general Betty Edwards said any Alamo-related changes must be done with “reverence and respect.”

She supports restoring the original footprint, but said a hotel, courthouse and other buildings encroach on that plan.

“We can combine entertainment with history without being Disneyland,” she said.