Experts digging to prepare for Alamo exhibit
Archaeologists will begin a six-week excavation Monday in Alamo Plaza, in preparation for a planned Mission Gate and Lunette Exhibit at the mission and battle site.
The outdoor exhibit will offer a spatial representation of the primary entry point and part of the south wall of the Mission San Antonio de Valero and 1836 Alamo fort. The archaeological investigation will determine what remnants of the Alamo remain intact and should be preserved in place below the plaza surface.
The Alamo plans to post weekly updates on the work, and answer frequently asked questions, on its website, thealamo.org.
The Texas Historical Commission approved a permit on Oct. 18 for the work in a 7,500square-foot area near a raised planter in the plaza, where of the Alamo’s south wall stood, prior to any construction on the exhibit. The approval came with stipulations that the Alamo Trust provide a plan for public outreach and education on the dig.
The exhibit is intended to give Alamo visitors a sense of arrival
in the plaza, where much of the heavy fighting occurred in the 1836 battle. It includes a representation of the fort’s main gate and a U-shaped dirt-and-timber fortification known as the lunette that was built by Mexican soldiers in 1835 and reinforced by Texian troops during the Texas Revolution.
An approved design for the exhibit also includes a representation of the Alamo’s Low Barracks, built next to the gate when the site became a Spanish military post in the early 1800s. Jim Bowie, commander of volunteers at the Alamo during the 1836 siege and battle with Mexican Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna’s army, had fallen ill and was killed on a cot in the Low Barracks.
The archaeological work will be done in coordination with the city and state historical commission, in an area enclosed with a six-foot fence, and will not affect public access to the Alamo. The city’s Historic and Design Review Commission approved plans for the exhibit on Oct. 5.
The exhibit is part of a $400 million, public-private makeover of the historic site that includes a $150 million museum and visitor center scheduled to open in 2026.