The Heart of Bexar County

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q Before and after photos of the 73rd District Courtroom. Over the next two years layers of paint were stripped away allowing for the original color to be revealed and restored. We removed the dropped ceiling and restored the original decorative plaster details and gold leaf ceiling. A decorative cork floor was installed. In addition, state-of-the-art technology was installed. It included touch screen control panels, giant plasma TV monitors, videoconferencing, cameras and microphones. SBC vice president John Montford had been instrumental in negotiating the terms of the $2-million-dollar gift to the Hidalgo Foundation. We used a portion of the gift for the technology. We also began work on locating and restoring the historic furniture. The Hidalgo Foundation contracted with Casagrande Appraisals to complete the first ever inventory and appraisal of all of the historic furniture. Seven hundred pieces of furniture and artwork in the courthouse were identified and each one tagged including jury chairs, benches, tables made of oak and walnut, and a huge safe built in 1885. Some pieces of furniture had been damaged and many had been painted over, hiding the original C h a p t e r V I 1 F 3 5
q Before and after restoration of the 131st District Courtroom. beautiful wood. The Hidalgo Foundation raised an additional $500,000 to restore the furniture. County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff announced that his office would put up a matching grant of $250,000. Two years later in August 2004, we competed Judge Specia’s courtroom and had restored the historic furniture. The courtroom now looked like it did when it was originally built. Judge Specia gave demonstrations of how the new technology worked. Witnesses could teleconference in and judges and lawyers would have any information they needed at their fingertips. It was a big step forward in the administration of justice. The following year on March 4, 2005, the Hidalgo Foundation held its first ever gala in the courthouse to thank our donors and show them the work we had completed. We also displayed numerous historic documents, including the marriage contract between Jim Bowie and Ursula Veramendi. Several pieces of restored historic furniture were also displayed. As the crowd gathered on the first floor, I gave a short speech and unveiled a large beautifully artistic wall board that listed all the major contributors. I hope the next time you enter the courthouse you will look at the many names and foundations listed that contributed to the courthouse restoration and to the children’s courts. The generosity and support of these individuals are a testament to the way Texans honor their past and take care of future generations. On behalf of the children and adults that have benefited from the contributions, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you! We served food and drinks to hundreds of people on the first three floors. We also took them on a tour of the Children’s Court and the restored 225th Court. The event that evening was a great success, and everyone stayed and enjoyed seeing the many improvements. Subsequent to the restoration of Specia’s courtroom, we have restored seven other courtrooms and the original Court of Appeals courtroom on the fifth floor. We also added five new courtrooms. We have also restored four public corridors leading to the courtrooms in addition to installing new smoke/alarm detection, sprinkler systems, HVAC, electrical, IT and phone systems. The historic stairways have also been restored and a new fire stair that expands to the fifth floor was built. 3 6 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R C O U N T Y
Page 1 and 2: THE HEART OF BEXAR COUNTY RESTORATI
Page 3 and 4: First Edition Copyright © 2020 HPN
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
Page 7 and 8: q Architectural drawing of the Cour
Page 9 and 10: I E V O L U T I O N O F C I T Y H A
Page 11 and 12: q Above: Bottom, right: The Masonic
Page 13 and 14: q Architect’s Drawing of the Bexa
Page 15 and 16: II R E S T O R A T I O N O F C I T
Page 17 and 18: q San Antonio City Council Chamber.
Page 19 and 20: III T H E D E C L I N E O F T H E C
Page 21 and 22: 2 0 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R
Page 23 and 24: Both designs were ill conceived, mi
Page 29 and 30: q Bexar County Courthouse. submitte
Page 31 and 32: VI T H E C H I L D R E N ’ S C O
Page 33 and 34: q Above: Children’s court Judge R
Page 35: VII T H E F I R S T R E S T O R E D
Page 39 and 40: In 1996 Father David Garcia, belove
Page 41 and 42: IX L A D Y J U S T I C E by Tracy W
Page 43 and 44: q Top, left: The Lady Justice fount
Page 45 and 46: q Right: Lady Justice during the un
Page 47 and 48: q Above and below: Construction of
Page 49 and 50: With that picture of the original c
Page 51 and 52: q Above: June 17, 2018, King Felipe
Page 53 and 54: q Above: Removal of the Gondeck add
Page 55 and 56: q Bexar County Courthouse after the
Page 57 and 58: XII T H E B E X A R C O U N T Y A R
Page 59 and 60: q Above: Texas A&M-San Antonio Arch
Page 61 and 62: XIII T H E B E X A R H E R I T A G
Page 63 and 64: q Exhibits from the Bexar County He
Page 65 and 66: q Right: Northside view of the Bexa
Page 67 and 68: ABOUT THE AUTHORS C O U N T Y N E L
Page 69 and 70: APPENDIX A A R C H I T E C T S & C
Page 71 and 72: APPENDIX C A R C H I T E C T S & C
Page 73 and 74: APPENDIX D B E X A R C O U N T Y O
Page 77 and 78: JTM CONSULTING, LLC Drawing on a lo
Page 79 and 80: G BRACEWELL, LLP From top to bottom
Page 81 and 82: NICHOLAS & BARRERA, P.C. For nearly
Page 83 and 84: DAVIS, CEDILLO & MENDOZA, INC. G To
Page 85 and 86: LINEBARGER GOGGAN BLAIR & SAMPSON,
Page 87 and 88:
LAW OFFICES OF SERNA & SERNA Growin
Page 89 and 90:
G ESCAMILLA & PONECK, LLP Above: Pa
Page 91 and 92:
WATTS GUERRA, LLP G Left: Mikal C.
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GUNN, LEE & CAVE, P.C. G Left: Ted
Page 95 and 96:
THOMAS J. HENRY LAW Thomas J. Henry
Page 97:
$34.95 978-1-944891-70-1 Ë|xHSLJOE
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The Heart of Bexar County

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