In a statement given at Wednesday’s HDRC meeting, we supported the proposed landmark designation of the Beacon Hill School. Our goal is not to prolong the historic building’s present condition – the result of decades of neglect – but to seek a solution that will allow the 1915 building to be restored to productive use.

Beacon Hill residents should be aware that their neighborhood has no control over what the district does on that site without the protection of historic designation. Should the handsome brick school be demolished, the site may not even become the greenspace that many parents desire.

The HDRC approved a finding of historic significance for the school, advancing the designation to City Council. Please contact your council member to support Councilman Roberto Treviño in his efforts to save the school.

It is unacceptable that the San Antonio Independent School District, which committed to the building’s preservation in 1997, has let twenty years go by without finding a way to make good on their pledge.  We should all hold SAISD accountable to be a responsible steward of this irreplaceable building.