The plans to redevelop Alamo Plaza, which have received both cheers and jeers since they were unveiled in April, will go up for vote today by San Antonio's City Council, which is feeling the burden to get this right.
"Not just for the city, but for the state of Texas," Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI. "The Alamo is a World Heritage site now."
The Alamo Master Plan, which has been seven years in the making, calls for the walling off of Alamo Plaza with the use of glass panels along the north and south sides. At public meetings, there have been concerns about restricting access to what has, historically, been a very public site.
Others complained about plans to remove heritage trees, and Viagran says, that's being reflected in the plan up for vote today.
"It'll be good for the community, because that's what they said they wanted. We want to make it accessible to everyone," she explains.
Besides the glass walls, the biggest change in the seven year plan would be a relocation of the Cenotaph.
Propositions 1 and 3 of the city's bond package were approved last weekend, meaning the city will be chipping in $38 million to the project. Viagran says, that won’t cover it all, and, for that reason, the project will move slowly
"That’s' important, in order to make sure we can leverage funding from the state."