The Conservation Society of San Antonio
Help Save the Institute of Texan Cultures Building!
ITC BUILDING GETS STATE DESIGNATION!
The Texas Historical Commission voted to approve the Conservation Society’s community-driven request for State Antiquities Landmark designation for the Texas Pavilion/Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) Building on Friday, October 25th, in Odessa. The struggle continues since UTSA can still assert its privileges as a university to get its demolition request approved.
Our petition drive is now over 1,950 signatures. If you haven’t signed already, please help us reach our next goal of 2,500 signatures! We want to keep building for our next course of action.
PETITION TO SAVE THE ITC BUILDING
Please sign and share on social media! As members of the public, let’s show we have a powerful interest in seeing this nationally significant landmark preserved and reused. Let’s keep the momentum going strong! The petition has been featured in the USModernist newsletter and MySA, the San Antonio Express-News free content site.
Latest Media Coverage:
Nov 15th – Will Hemisfair building’s past block plans for Spurs’ future? – KSAT-12
Newsflash: It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, unless UTSA, the City, and the Spurs refuse to work with the community to find a workable preservation option. Such a great opportunity to set a national example in cultural and environmental sustainability – will they seize it or totally drop the ball?
Oct 31st – Conservation Society board member Betty Bueche speaks out On the Record with Randy Beamer – KLRN TV
Oct 29th – New historical status for Institute of Texan Cultures may slow down bid for new Spurs arena – Texas Public Radio
POLL: Should the Institute of Texan Cultures building be designated a historical landmark? – News4 SA. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of 454 participants say “Yes!”
Oct. 28th – UTSA’s plans to demolish Institute of Texan Cultures building dealt a blow by landmark designation – San Antonio Express-News
THC Quarterly Meeting – Oct 25, 2024
You can watch the recorded meeting here. The Society outlined its case against demolition during the public comment period at the top of the agenda. Presentations came next, including one by UTSA. Our State Antiquities Landmark designation was item 8.2. Discussion included pointed comments from the commissioners about the unfair advantages for universities incorporated into the Texas Antiquities Code and how that needed to change. Only two commissioners dissented from voting in favor of designation.
Because the University of Texas at San Antonio still wants to demolish the building, public support continues to be critical. Many thanks to everyone who responded to our call to action! The commissioners received 41 comments supporting designation (only one against), plus a copy of our online petition with 1,857 signatures, in their packets. We are especially grateful to have received letters of support from the following organizations:
Preservation Texas
Latinos in Heritage Conservation
Westside Preservation Alliance/Esperanza Peace & Justice Center/Historic Westside Residents Alliance
Society of Architectural Historians
This template letter outlined key reasons why this irreplaceable world’s fair icon from HemisFair ’68 should and can be preserved for the benefit of all Texas residents and visitors.
UPDATE
Oct 25 – ITC Building receives State Antiquities Landmark designation by a 7-2 vote of the Texas Historical Commission in Odessa. Commissioner David Gravelle of Dallas exhorted his colleagues not to “fold like tacos!”
July 26 – Great News! The State Antiquities Advisory Board voted to advance our State Antiquities Landmark nomination to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) for consideration. We are one step closer to State designation. This also opens up a 30-day window for public comment before the Commission’s next quarterly meeting. We hope to be on the THC agenda for October 24-25, 2024 in Midland/Odessa.
July 3 – “Can the Institute of Texan Cultures be Saved from Project Marvel?” David Martin Davies speaks to Conservation Society President Lewis Vetter and San Antonio Express-News reporter Madison Iszler on TPR’s The Source.
July 2 – Commentary: “Reach out to community to preserve the Texas Pavilion” – Conservation Society President Lewis Vetter asks UTSA to apply its core values of collaboration and innovation to reuse the Institution of Cultures building.
July 1 – ITC featured on recorded MACRI Talk: Summer Road Trip. Host Sarah Zenaida Gould of MACRI and Jesús Najar of Preservation Texas discuss four endangered Mexican American historic sites in Texas. Includes links to support their preservation.
ITC makes Preservation Texas list of Most Endangered Places 2024
“San Marcos, TX — Preservation Texas has unveiled its annual list of Texas’s Most Endangered Places, encompassing 12 individual sites and one cultural landscape across the state. From the indigenous cultural expanse of Indian Hot Springs in Hudspeth County to the 1968 Institute of Texan Cultures Building in San Antonio, the list spans a diverse array of architectural styles and historical significance.”
May 31 – Fox News 29 covered the closing day at the ITC. Visitors John Dye and Chip Leick shared what makes the building special.
May 15 – The Institute of Texan Cultures Museum will close at the end of May. All are invited to a free open house at the ITC on Friday, May 31st, from 10:oo AM to 4:00 PM. The event will include opportunities to share and record memories. In the meantime, the ITC remains open Thurs. – Sun. from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission is by donation.
Apr. 19 – The Conservation Society’s Executive Director, Dr. Vincent Michael, provides perspective in his most recent blog post: “Only downtown landmark by a Mexican-American architect to be demolished.”
As we celebrate the endangered building’s official listing on the National Register of Historic Places, keep in mind that less than 4% of National Register listings relate to Latino history or design. In 2014, the first Spanish language TV station in the United States – Univision – was demolished in downtown San Antonio despite being eligible for the National Register.
UTSA Announces Plans to Demolish ITC Building
Apr. 3 – UTSA has announced, “In order to be as flexible as possible as next steps are evaluated, the university will issue a Request for Proposals to remove the Texas Pavilion, ensuring plans can move forward depending on how the land is eventually redeveloped. UTSA will continue to work directly with the Texas Historical Commission to ensure that the legacy of the Texas Pavilion is properly documented and celebrated.”
“UTSA takes next strategic steps to ensure bold future for the Institute of Texan Cultures” – UTSA Today
So, why does UTSA’s “bold future” consist of repeating common development mistakes from the past: destroying a nationally significant landmark (eligible for rehabilitation tax credits) and ignoring best practices in environmental sustainability?
And why, in San Antonio – the birthplace of the Mexican American Civil Rights movement – is the public expected to make to due with empty commemorations instead of the actual historic sites that honor this unique aspect of our heritage?
“UTSA to raze Institute of Texan Cultures building and construct new home for museum” – San Antonio Express-News
Feb. 22 – The UT Board of Regents voted to allow UTSA conditional approval to enter into talks about selling or leasing the Institute of Texan Cultures property to the City. Despite the speculation about the Spurs possibly returning to Hemisfair, no one is speaking on the record about the particulars.
Only Downtown Landmark Designed by Mexican American Architect
Jan. 30 – Yet another reason to come together to repurpose the Texas Pavilion (Institute of Texan Cultures building): the design influence of architect Willie Pena, one of the few prominent Mexican American architects of the 20th century. He served as an unnamed partner with the firm of Caudill, Rowlett, & Scott, which designed the building. This letter to the State Board of Review documents the significant connection between the Institute of Texan Cultures and Mexican American Civil Rights.
Jan. 13, 2024 – the State Board of Review approved the nomination of the Texas Pavilion (Institute of Texan Cultures building) to the National Register of Historic Places. Nine speakers traveled to the Galveston meeting to support the nomination in person, while UTSA opposed it. The board’s approval is the first step in the nomination process. It is now up to the State Historic Preservation Officer to send the nomination on to the National Parks Service for final approval.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Likely site for new San Antonio Spurs arena could be sold or leased to the city – San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 22, 2024.
UTSA gets ‘conditional approval’ to sell or lease Hemisfair property to city – San Antonio Report, Feb. 22, 2024.
Commentary: Trailblazing Hispanic architect left out of Institute of Texan Cultures story – San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2024.
¡Que Viva Willie Peña!, courtesy of Dr. Sarah Zenaida Gould, MACRI Executive Director.
Learn more about one of the most prominent Mexican American architects of the last century, William Merriweather Peña (1919-2018).
“On the Record,” Jan. 18. 2024 – KLRN
Society member Betty Bueche discusses the building’s potential with Randy Beamer (after interview with Councilman Pelaez). Betty is the former Director of Bexar County Heritage and Parks Department, the first woman Park Superintendent for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and a recipient of Texas Historical Commission’s Ruth Lester Lifetime Achievement Award.
Institute for Texan Cultures seeks designation that might save it – Texas Public Radio, Jan. 16, 2024
Society President Kathy Krnavek and Executive Director Vincent Michael speak to Jack Morgan about the advantages of National Register designation for the building’s future re-use.
National Register listing for Institute of Texan Cultures site gets state OK. What does that mean? – San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 16, 2024
State board approves historic listing for Institute of Texan Cultures – KSAT-12, Jan. 16, 2024
Group seeks historic designation for ITC amid UTSA’s objection – San Antonio Report, Jan. 13. 2024
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
On Behalf of the Conservation Society of San Antonio:
Thanks to all of you for your energy and commitment over long months to this cause.
The presentations in Galveston were excellent. We are so grateful for those who saw us off from the Texas Pavilion/ITC building on Friday.
So many thanks to all who wrote or submitted statements online – it was an overwhelming show of support and a testament to all those who got the word out to their members and friends. The count we heard was 47 written letters and roughly 200 received via e-mail!
BACKGROUND
The Texas Pavilion (Institute of Texan Cultures or ITC) is one of HemisFair ‘68’s largest and most distinctive original buildings. Built as a permanent structure by the State of Texas, it has served as a museum of diverse Texan cultures for over 50 years. It meets National Register criteria for historic and architectural significance. The draft nomination is currently available online.
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) plans to move the museum to a location closer to the Alamo. They want to sell the ITC building. The Conservation Society’s only concern is the future of this iconic Hemisfair building – and the National Register can help the next owner preserve and reuse it!
Listing on the National Register of Historic Places allows a developer to take advantage of preservation tax incentives worth 45% of all rehab costs! That means a $50 million project costs the developer only $27.5 million! The nomination does not, however, prevent demolition.
The former Texas Pavilion, designed by the Houston firm of Caudill, Rowlett & Scott, anchors the east end of Hemisfair Park, making HemisFair one of the least altered of the post-WW II world’s fair sites. Let’s help keep it that way!
