Save Alamo Plaza

The Texas Nationalist Movement has been active in efforts to protect the sanctity and dignity of The Alamo over the past several years.

From the monthly Alamo Guard memorial march, to stopping Kanye West’s use of The Alamo for a publicity stunt, to being one of the first organizations to protest the City of San Antonio’s plan to turn the Alamo Plaza into a carnival, the TNM takes The Alamo seriously.

Now, we urgently need you to add your voices to ours to protect the entire Alamo battleground.

A Little Background

What most know as “The Alamo” is the chapel, the long barracks and the visitors complex. However, when the Battle of the Alamo was fought, the Alamo was a much larger complex with the chapel and the long barracks taking up only a very small portion of the grounds.

The actual battleground is right under the feet of people who walk Alamo Plaza and visit the various shops around The Alamo, and most never give a second thought to the fact that Texans died there to secure the independence of Texas.

The Battle Today

The public battle over control over the chapel and visitors complex has occasionally made the news, the lesser known battle has been over control of Alamo Plaza.

The visitors complex has been under control of the state under the care of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the General Land Office. And they have done a tremendous job on preservation and education as well as maintaining The Alamo with the dignity and respect deserved of such a hallowed place.

However, the Alamo Plaza is under control of the City of San Antonio. To say that they have treated this sacred ground with disrespect is an understatement. The TNM even likened their plans at one point to “installing a ferris wheel at the Texas State Cemetery.”

As Texans, we must view the Plaza in the way that we view the chapel. Men fought and died there for the freedom and independence of Texas. It deserves respect.

What You Can Do

On March 6, 2014, the San Antonio City Council passed an ordinance approving a process, strategy, and next steps for the development of a comprehensive master plan for Alamo Plaza and the surrounding area, to include the establishment of a 21 member Alamo Plaza Advisory Committee. The 21 member committee is comprised of one member appointed by each city council district and eleven members appointed by the mayor, which include 3 tri-chairs and 8 members representative of the following categories:

(1) member from the 1994 Alamo Plaza Study Committee Report
(3) members from the fields of history and archeology
(1) member representing the State of Texas
(1) member representing the federal government
(1) member representing private property owners
(1) member from the field of tourism

The meetings of this Committee have been held at times when it was difficult for the public to attend leading us to believe that they really didn’t want to hear from Texans about the future of the Alamo.

However, they will finally be holding a public meeting and the TNM plans to be there.

We intend to call on the City of San Antonio to do the following:

• Restore the Alamo Battleground to its original hallowed footprint to include the original walls of the compound.
• Close off the battleground to vehicular traffic and restrict vendors to the outside perimeter of the battleground complex.
• Build a museum complex to house a permanent collection of important artifacts of the Alamo, the war for independence, and the Republic of Texas
• Transfer ownership of the battleground complex, including the current Alamo Plaza, to the State of Texas to be managed in joint partnership with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
• Reject and prohibit any attempt to designate the Alamo as a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

Even if you can’t personally be there, please add your voice to ours.