Alamo Plaza Interpretive Master Plan

Reed Hilderbrand is one of three firms commissioned by the Alamo Endowment with City of San Antonio and Texas General Land Office to create a strategic design for an improved public experience of the Alamo. The fundamental site design challenge is to create a reverential site where visitors can explore interpretive elements covering 300 years of history while accommodating the bustling life of the contemporary city.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Community engagement was a fundamental component of the Comprehensive Interpretive Plan process. The design strategies were guided by the Alamo Vision and Guiding Principles, a document developed by the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee. The interpretive team led a ten-month long public process of engagement with the ACAC, City Council, and community leaders that culminated in a lease agreement to promote pedestrian-priority for renewed Alamo Plaza.

OPEN-AIR MUSEUM

The Alamo Church and Long Barrack are the most historically significant buildings in the state of Texas. These structures, in combination with a physical delineation of the Spanish Mission, form the Historic Site and become an open-air museum where the diverse stories of the Alamo are shared in the very places where they occurred. The new Alamo Museum and Visitor Center anchors the Historic Site and attracts activity with a ground-level café, museum store, and public offerings.

PEDESTRIANIZED ALAMO PLAZA

Alamo Plaza more than triples in size to provide ample space for a broad range of civic, cultural and commercial activities. The Plaza becomes a pedestrian-only zone of inviting, shaded streets and plazas. A broad promenade connects to San Antonio’s beloved Riverwalk. Shops and cafés with outdoor seating line the promenade while concerts and gatherings animate Alamo Plaza day and night.