The Heart of Bexar County

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Patrick McMillan has a degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. They have been in business together for 20 years. Together with Toxey and McMillan, Betty hosted a series of meetings with local elected county officials and historians. Out of the meetings came the idea that a series of displays would tell the history and how Bexar County operated. But as we talked about her proposal, the more I realized that citizens would get lost in the minutiae of the various office functions and would miss the essence of modern-day Bexar County, that being the actual projects that we had built and how they benefited our citizens and future generations. Betty and I met with Toxey and McMillan in their home and office located at 218 Washington in the King William neighborhood. Their 1917 brick mansion was built by the Gieseckie family. At one time, Toxey’s grandfather owned the home and lived there. We were served tea and cookies in their living room, surrounded by numerous artifacts that they had collected over the years. As we began to talk Toxey looked straight into my eyes and measured each word I was saying. While I sketched out a vision, she made notes and you could see her creativity coming alive. I told her that I wanted most of the heritage center to focus on major projects that the county had taken on and completed in the modern era. Over the last 20 years, the Commissioners Court have pushed hard to bring Bexar County into the modern era by taking on projects that heretofore were never been considered before such as amateur sports parks, a performing arts center and the county arena where the Spurs play. At the conclusion of our discussion, she said to give her some time to put a proposal together. She stated that she would present us with a series of displays along with interactive computergenerated programing. She stated that a series of dioramas, projections, and interactive panels using the latest technology would capture the attention of visitors to the museum. Toxey/McMillian brought us a conceptual design of the center in February 2016. A circular information center included television monitors that broadcasted a greeting from the county commissioners court. The exhibits start with the Spanish and Mexican administrations of Texas; Texas as an independent nation, her statehood, the post-Civil War era; and into the modern age. In the modern era, the first exhibit includes a crime scene investigation that will explain the role of the District Attorney, Sheriff, and the forensic lab and Medical Examiner’s office. Following is an exhibit of the new $899 million ten-story Bexar County Sky Tower hospital and six-story downtown Clinical and Ambulatory building that the Commissioners Court Funded in 2008. It included an architectural drawing of the upcoming $390 million Women and Children’s Hospital that the Commissioner’s Court approved in 2017. Next is an exhibit of the restoration of the Bexar County Courthouse funded by Commissioners Court, the Hidalgo Foundation and the Texas Historical Commission. There are exhibits of the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek that the county funded. An exhibit of the new County Arena that is home of the Spurs and Rodeo and the restored Coliseum. An exhibit of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, the Alameda Theater, and the Briscoe Western Art Museum, all of which were partly funded by the county. Exhibits of the four missions emphasize the World Heritage designation the county led the effort to obtain in 2015. Bexar County Bibliotech, the world’s first all-digital public library, has an interactive site where people can register to become a patron. All of the exhibits include a series of dioramas, projections, and interactive panels, virtual reality portals, text and computer games and interactive computer research terminals. Each diorama will be composed of iconic images, murals, and artifacts. During the summer of 2019, we hosted the Institute of Texan Culture’s Summer Teacher Institute who are focusing on our history and our role in governing. Teachers from all school districts participated. They received lesson plans, take field trips and learn from our Heritage Center. They will then be able to provide information to their students that will impress upon them the importance of local representative government, the importance of their vote, and the civic responsibility to one another. We hosted other interest groups during the summer and opened the public in August 2019. C h a p t e r X I I 1 F 6 3
q Right: Northside view of the Bexar County Courthouse. 6 4 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
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First Edition Copyright © 2020 HPN
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CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
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q Architectural drawing of the Cour
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I E V O L U T I O N O F C I T Y H A
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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 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: q Exhibits from the Bexar County He
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
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Page 79 and 80: G BRACEWELL, LLP From top to bottom
Page 81 and 82: NICHOLAS & BARRERA, P.C. For nearly
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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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