Reinventing an icon From the cover
The overview
The Alamo Plan
To reshape visitors’ perception of the Alamo, The Alamo Trust, state and city o cials are working on major expansions to drastically boost tourism. Je Webster, CEO and president of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said the state projects that the plan will grow tourism at the Alamo by 56%. Known as the Alamo Plan, a series of projects aims to tell the full story of Texas history. The plan includes reestablishing the original four- and-a-half-acre footprint, building the Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, the Texas Cavaliers Education Center and a pedestrian mall. The roughly 160,000-square-foot Visitor Center and Museum will house over 5,000 artifacts and be divided into eight galleries, including the Indigenous Peoples, Mexican Rule, Texas Revolution and Civil Rights Era Galleries. Additionally, the center will have a 4D theater and a 700-person event space, with a wraparound terrace overlooking the church building. “[There are] so many things on the horizon that’ll be a game changer for the shrine of Texas Liberty,” said Jonathan Huhn, director of communications and community outreach for The Alamo Trust.
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1 Alamo/Church 2 Long Barrack 3 Visitor Center and Museum 4 Event center
5 Education center 6 Collections center
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WILLIAM MENDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: THE ALAMO TRUST COMMUNITY IMPACT
Funding the project
Zooming in
Huhn said the project is budgeted at $550 million and is estimated to stimulate the local economy. “Our economic studies show that the rst ve years of operation [after the] construc- tion of the museum has a total economic bene t of $11.3 billion,” Huhn said. The state appropriated $400 million for the project, and Huhn said the trust has raised close to $90 million of the remaining $150 million needed.
Brett Finley, Metro SA Chamber president and CEO, said that the Alamo Plan will boost the city’s tourism industry, which saw a decline in 2024, and will create opportunities for North San Antonio businesses. “It’s going to have a ripple e ect across the northern side of San Antonio. Anytime that you can reinvigorate downtown, it will have an e ect from an economic development perspective, and really raise the tide for all businesses,” Finley said. Marc Whyte, District 10 council member, said North San Antonio will see increased tourist occupancy in the upcoming Morgan’s Hotel on Wurzbach Parkway, creating a wide range of business opportunities in the area. “With that hotel built, more families that require special accommodations will want to stay at Morgan’s Hotel, [and] because they want to visit the Alamo, people will stay here longer. [The local] market will develop around it,” Whyte said.
The Education Center will include classrooms, an orientation theater and an agricultural garden.
The breakdown
State: $400M Unraised funds: $60M Private donors: $90M
Total cost: $550M
The Visitor Center and Museum will feature eight galleries, including the Texas Revolution Gallery.
SOURCE: THE ALAMO TRUST COMMUNITY IMPACT
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