The Alamo restoration projects will go to the state preservation board

AUSTIN, Texas - The Alamo is undergoing a major renovation inside and out. 

A state house committee got an update on the construction and the reorganization.

Renovations and The Alamo

The backstory:

At the Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, the new visitors center is taking shape. 

In March, the final structural steel beam was placed. It was a critical milestone, but it was one part of a larger multi-million-dollar renovation. This will also include a change in who will eventually manage The Alamo.

"So those projects, as I said, will not be completed, not expected to be completed until 2028. Transferring state oversight and funding in the middle of those critical projects will be complicated," said Jeff Gordon, the General Counsel for the Texas General Land Office.

On Tuesday, members of the House committee on Culture, Recreation & Tourism were briefed on the big undertaking happening in San Antonio. There are three major construction projects: renovation of the old Chapel and Long Barracks; redesigning the Plaza and building a new visitors center.  

"I think what I've heard a lot of times is that we're building the plane while we're flying it. And this is actually changing the pilots while we are building the planes while we were flying it, so it is difficult," said David Repp, the CFO for the General Land Office.

The Alamo has had many restoration projects. An exterior cleaning job took place in 1987, and in 2011, because of maintenance issues, the Texas General Land Office took control of the site, ending more than a century of control by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Now, custody is going to the state preservation board, which is a new commission that will run the day-to-day operations.

"And then, no later than Jan. 1, 2028, all the powers, duties, contracts, appropriations, property, everything, GLO related to The Alamo will be transferred to the commission. So to effectuate that transfer, beginning Sept. 1, 2027, we and the commission will be entering into an MOU to then provide for an orderly transfer on Jan. 1, 2028," said Gordon.

The renovation project cost more than $400 million. Committee members like Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer don't want any procedural missteps during the management transfer.

"What I don't want to see happen is we start and end the 27th session, and then as we get to the fall of 2027 and beginning of 2028, we recognize there was something we could have done in 2027 to help with that," said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat. When the dust settles on the renovation, reorganization, a lingering debate, is expected to spin back up. There have been heated discussions over how history is presented at The Alamo and is expected to spin back up.

"I think coming from San Antonio we have a lot of rich history and, so, I think we're all familiar with how to tell a story and tell a complete and accurate story as it relates to The Alamo. I think that's an ongoing conversation. We'll monitor that to see how that's going. But what's important right now is the brick and mortar getting the construction done, getting the transition done, and then we will certainly, you know, the story of The Alamo lives forever, and we all have the opportunity to make sure of that. Every piece of that history is being told accurately and to make sure that we are appealing to everybody who cares about the Alamo," said Rep. Martinez Fischer. 

Testimony on Texas historical documents

What they're saying:

The committee also heard testimony about a legislative mandate to display the Travis ‘Death or Victory’ letter and the Texas Declaration of independence. Texas State Archives Director and Librarian Gloria Meraz said details on how to do the display and where are still being worked out.

"We are here to implement the vision of the state, and we will implement the vision of the state. There are many considerations, as have been noted with regard to these documents, and it is our supreme goal to give the state the very best options to make these documents available for generations to come and afford Texans and the world the opportunity to engage with them," said Meraz.

Both of the historical documents are not in good condition and require special care. Josephe Bell with the Texas Historical Commission explained they both require time out of light.

"This document is so valuable that we do not want to love it to death," said Bell.

Dig deeper:

As part of the hearing, the committee was briefed on another construction project to preserve history. The committee was shown a rendering of the new storage building that is replacing the old warehouse along Shoal Creek Blvd. and will take pressure off the archive building next to the capitol. 

The $210 million building is located in Pflugerville near the intersection of East Pecan St and SH 130. The new archive facility is expected to open by August 2027. 

"And I will say that Texas is the envy of every other state archives in the country. And I know because I talked to those folks. I had an inquiry from one state which shall be nameless and said we're looking at expanding our space. They're considering adding a few more rooms for us, and they said what did Texas do? At Texas to $210 million for a new building. They said, I don't think we're going to do what Texas did. It is with great pride that I thank the state because this really shows commitment to not just what we're doing now but understanding the responsibility we have in perpetuity to maintain our records," said Meraz.

History will note the citizens of Austin, back in 1842, fought off a group from Houston that tried to move the capital to Bayou City. The group from Houston had been directed by then President Sam Houston to take the state records and archives and bring them back to the town named for him.

That group from Houston was repelled by cannon fire. There is a statue of that standoff located on the west side of Congress near 6th St. 

However, this new archive storage building in Pflugerville does not mean Austin won the battle and has now lost the Archive War. The main Archive building is still at the Capitol complex in downtown Austin.