The Heart of Bexar County

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15. They made a decision to sell the building and relocate their staff to a smaller building. They called to see if the Commissioners Court were interested in buying the building and we said we were. We wanted the building to house the county’s valuable historic documents. We have numerous documents including land grants and sales, mission records, decrees, edits and laws, rebel properties and post-civil war amnesty oaths, as well as microfilm of earlier Spanish documents housed at the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. The large climate-controlled vaults were ideal to protect the documents. We also had room on the first floor to create a display space and a reading room for citizens who wanted to do research. In 2013, we began negotiations to buy the building that was set on a small city block. They agreed verbally to sell it to us at market value to be determined by an outside appraisal. However later they changed their mind and decided to choose a developer who would find another location, build them a new building and buy the Federal Reserve building. This was a breach of our verbal agreement. So, we then decided to start condemnation proceedings to force a sale to Bexar County. This did not go over very well with Federal Reserve officials. They said we had no right to condemn their property and that they would fight it. Once we went public with our dispute and they saw we were serious about condemnation they finally agreed to sell to us. We finally reached an agreement on April 8, 2014 to buy the building based on our original agreement. We paid the appraised price of $6.5 million. After we received control of the building an opportunity came our way to host an exhibit of Spanish historical documents that tell the story of the 17th and 18th century Spanish colonial exploration of the new world and the settlement of the area that would become Bexar County. We very much wanted to host the exhibit because Bexar County’s successful effort to have the missions and the Alamo inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. Our work began in 2006 when Virginia Nicholas, Chair of the Bexar County Historical Commission, first introduced the idea of applying for inscription. Bexar County coordinated the National Park Service, Los Compadres (now known as Mission Heritage Partners), San Antonio River Authority and the San Antonio Conservation Society on the nomination. On July 5, 2015 we traveled to Bonn, Germany and were successful before the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The historic Missions and the Alamo were inscribed as a World Heritage Site, the only one in the State of Texas. Betty Bueche traveled to Spain reached an agreement to borrow documents from the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, Spain. She also collected artifacts and documents from other institutions including maps, official reports, mission inventories, and religious and archaeological artifacts. We built exhibit space on the first floor in our newly acquired building, located next to the Bexar County Archives. The successful exhibit ran from May through September 2016. It was the first exhibit leading up to the celebration of our community’s 300th anniversary to be held two years later in 2018. As we were preparing for the Spanish historical document exhibit, I read in the San q Below: Bexar County Archives Building vault where the Spanish Archives were stored. C h a p t e r X I 1 F 5 7
q Above: Texas A&M-San Antonio Archives and Special Collections office at the Bexar County Archives Building. Below: Judge Nelson Wolff viewing at Texas Declaration of Independence document at the Grand Opening of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas exhibit on October 27, 2017. Antonio Express-News that the city of San Antonio was turning down an opportunity to house the Daughters of the Republic of Texas’s Alamo Library collection. When the State of Texas took over the Alamo, they sought to keep the Daughters’ collection but lost in court. The Daughters stored the collection in several warehouses while looking for a permanent home. The Alamo Library collection was established by the Daughters on October 12, 1945 and housed a converted fire station just southeast of the Alamo. In 1950, a new building was constructed on the Alamo grounds to house the collection which held the collection until the state took over. The extraordinary collection included 17,000 book titles including genealogy, politics, art, and natural history associated with Texas. It also included 450 collections of personal and family papers, 40,000 photographic images recording the history of the Alamo and the people of Texas. Approximately 1,000 pieces of graphic art, paintings and decorative arts are among the collections in addition to prints and posters, periodicals, newspapers, sheet music, and clipping files. They had more than 1,000 maps dating back to 1597. The same day that I read about the city’s decision I called attorney Lamont Jefferson, who represented the Daughters. I said that the County would be interested in providing a home for them in the former Federal Reserve building. He said that they may be interested and would have someone call me. Later that same day, Texas A&M—San Antonio (TAMUSA) President Dr. Cynthia Matson called me and said they would be curating the Daughters collection. She was interested in my proposal and wanted to see the facility. I replied that I would be 5 8 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R C O U N T Y
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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 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: XII T H E B E X A R C O U N T Y A R
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
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The Heart of Bexar County

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