The Heart of Bexar County

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XI T H E R E M O V A L O F T H E G O N D E C K A D D I T I O N S by Nelson Wolff q Left: Gondeck Addition c. 1972. Below: Gondeck Addition during the removal process. It is interesting how the best laid building plans can sometimes evolve into an architectural nightmare because of a lack of will. In 1968 the Commissioners Court started out in the right direction when they began working on plans for a proposed 14-story courthouse building. Because of financial concerns, the plans were abandoned. Instead of building the new building in January 1970, the Commissioners Court approved a fourstory, 38,000 sq. ft. concrete framed addition on the southwest corner of the courthouse designed by the Gondeck Architectural firm. The windowless granite agglomerate-paneled addition was finished in early 1972. Previously in 1963, the Commissioners Court had authorized the building of a smaller 9,000 C h a p t e r X 1 F 5 1
q Above: Removal of the Gondeck addition. Below: A 15-foot metal fence designed by sculptor George Schroeder, named “Justitia”. square foot windowless second story addition to the west side of the Courthouse also designed by Gondeck. For the next 40 years much talk took place about the inappropriate additions. But nothing happened. To remove the Gondeck additions, we would have to develop a plan to relocate employees to another building. For several years, Commissioner Paul Elizondo advocated building a new administrative office building on a parking lot located across Main Street from the courthouse and next to the Justice Center that had been built in 1988. An underground tunnel had been constructed under Main Street connecting the Justice Center and the courthouse. I teamed up with Commissioner Elizondo to get the support to move forward with the building. The new building would save $600,000 a year in rental payments that we were paying to house county employees in other buildings. It would also provide space for the relocated employees working in the Gondeck additions. We approved the construction of a new 10 story, 215,000 square foot building. It would be the first major vertical construction that the county had undertaken in 20 years. It would be wrapped in Pecos red sandstone and granite used in the original courthouse. It would also include the latest technology and energy efficiency standards. Solar panels would be installed, the first building downtown to do so. We would be the first publicly owned LEED Silver building in San Antonio. The offices of the District Clerk, County Clerk, Auditor, District Attorney, Budget and Economic Development Departments and other administrative offices would be housed in the building. The Commissioners Court would take the top floor. The District Attorney’s offices would be moved from the Justice Center into the new building, allowing us to fill that space with eight new criminal courts. 5 2 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 and 36: VII T H E F I R S T R E S T O R E D
Page 37 and 38: q Before and after restoration of t
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: q Above: June 17, 2018, King Felipe
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.
Page 93 and 94: 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

The Heart of Bexar County

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