Good news!  Three new landmark designations will be moving forward after approval at the April 17 Historic and Design Review Commission meeting.  Perez Street will also keep its historic name and associations with San Antonio’s Spanish heritage.

We supported designation for two historic houses on East Evergreen, the Cole House at 307 and the Stinson House at 309-11.   The Cole house served as the childhood home of Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism during WWII.  The Stinson House next door became an independent cultural arts venue, launching the careers of local artists and musicians between 1995 and 2019.

The 1920s ice house at 419 S. Hackberry also received initial approval for designation.  We commend the owners for choosing to preserve this distinctive San Antonio building type.

We expressed our design concerns for the infill project proposed for Dignowity Hill at 415 N. Mesquite and the 100 block of Brown.  Scale and architectural compatibility with the historic housing stock were our main issues.  The commission approved this project with some staff stipulations.

Finally, we objected to University Health System’s (UHS) request to change the name of Perez Street in the 200 block.  The commission denied the name change.

The Society  opposes changing historic street names, but especially this one, which honors San Antonio’s early 19th-century Spanish heritage through Lt. Col Ignacio Perez, who served as an interim governor of Spanish Texas.   See page two of our Summer 2018 newsletter for the Society’s efforts to work with UHS to save the jacal at 219 Perez Street, one of the few surviving structures from the neighborhood once known as “Laredito.”