Existing Buildings HISTORIC ASSESSMENT / Introduction
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ALAMO PLAZA EXISTING BUILDINGS San Antonio, Texas historical Assessment John G. Waite Associates, Architects PLLC • September 2020 ALAMO PLAZA EXISTING BUILDINGS San Antonio, Texas historical Assessment SEPTEMBER 2020 John G. Waite Associates, Architects pllc 384 Broadway, Albany NY 12207 64 Fulton Street, Suite 402, New York, NY 10038 prepared for the Alamo Trust, Inc John G. Waite Associates, Architects PLLC John G. Waite, FAIA Douglas Bucher Chelle Jenkins Nancy A. Rankin, AIA, LEED AP Abigail Saunders Diane Welch MCC≡1200 Architectural Engineers PLLC John Matteo , PE, FAAR Kristen Potterton, PE Kohler Ronan LLC Robert V. Hedman, PE, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP Joseph V. Lembo, PE Giuseppe Ianni, PE Jerry Manavalan Mount Ida Press Diana S. Waite Jane Trask Frances Gale Casey Gallagher Jordan CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................2 EVOLUTION OF ALAMO PLAZA ......................................................................................................... 5 Sanborn Maps ..........................................................................................................9 Historic Photographs of Alamo Plaza ................................................................ 17 BUILDING EXAMINATIONS .............................................................................................................. 27 Key Building Events ..............................................................................................28 Building Conditions: Previous Assessments by Others ................................... 29 Overall Plan Drawings: Existing Conditions .....................................................31 Crockett Block ....................................................................................................... 38 Crockett Block Historical Analysis Floor Plans ................................................ 49 Palace Th eater Arcade........................................................................................... 55 Palace Th eater Arcade Historical Analysis Floor Plans ................................... 67 Woolworth Building ............................................................................................. 74 Woolworth Building Historical Analysis Floor Plans ...................................... 89 ANALYSIS OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION DESIGNATIONS ..............................................................95 National Historic Landmark ................................................................................97 National Register Of Historic Places .................................................................. 99 City of San Antonio Offi ce Of Historic Preservation .....................................106 World Heritage Site .............................................................................................109 Texas Historical Commission State Antiquities Landmarks .........................112 World Monuments Watch ..................................................................................115 EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE AND INTEGRITY ..........................................................................117 FINDINGS .......................................................................................................................................123 RESOURCES FOR ALAMO PLAZA RESEARCH ................................................................................127 APPENDICES Appendix A: Examples of Museums in Rehabilitated Buildings Appendix B: Alamo Plaza 1965-1984 The Crockett Block, Palace Theater Arcade, and Woolworth Building. JGWA, 2019. Alamo Plaza Existing Buildings HISTORIC ASSESSMENT / Introduction INTRODUCTION The Crockett Block at 317-323 Alamo Plaza, the independent review of the buildings’ signifi cance Palace Th eater Arcade at 327 Alamo Plaza, and the and integrity, and render an opinion as to whether Woolworth Building at 518 East Houston Street are each of the three buildings meets current criteria for located on the west side of the Alamo Plaza, facing listing in the National Register of Historic Places. the Alamo in downtown San Antonio, Texas. All Additional research was also compiled to document three buildings are listed as contributing elements the complex developmental history of Alamo Plaza of the Alamo Plaza National Register Historic Dis- from 1965-1984, including the construction of the trict and are part of the Alamo Plaza Local Historic Alamo Plaza-Paseo del Rio Linkage Project imme- District. Th e three properties were acquired by the diately south of the Crockett Block. State of Texas in 2015 for incorporation into new At the outset of the project, JGWA recommended plans for an improved visitor experience of the that an historian who is an authority on the Afri- Alamo historic site. can-American civil rights movement be engaged Because of diff erences of opinion over whether by the Alamo Trust to prepare an assessment of the the buildings should be preserved or not, John G. signifi cance of the San Antonio Woolworth Build- Waite Associates, Architects (JGWA) was contract- ing within the specifi c context of local and national ed by the Texas General Land Offi ce on behalf of desegregation struggles and integration accomplish- the Alamo Trust, Inc. in January 2019 to undertake ments in the 20th century. Dr. Carey H. Latimore’s an historical assessment study to determine the subsequent report Civil Rights in San Antonio: signifi cance and level of integrity of each of the WWII to Mid-1960s has provided valuable new three buildings, together and individually. Th is insights into the collective and peaceful integration work required that an extensive and thorough in- of a group of downtown commercial establishment vestigation of each building be undertaken to assess lunch counters near the Alamo. the amount of historic building fabric that survived Participating with JGWA in analyzing the three and document its condition; the investigation buildings’ history, signifi cance, and current condi- resulted in a listing of the three buildings’ sur- tion was a team of architectural historians, structural viving character-defi ning features. Concurrently, engineers, and building systems engineers. Th is primary-source research outlined the construction report to the Texas General Land Offi ce is a compi- history of each building and documented chang- lation of the team’s fi ndings. In addition, the report es made to each of the structures over time; this includes a range of examples of the successful reuse, information supplemented a review of all available by world-class museum institutions, of historic previous studies documenting the three buildings. commercial and industrial buildings that share some Discussions were also held over the past year with similar confi gurations and characteristics with the representatives of the Alamo Trust, San Antonio three Alamo Plaza properties. Th e information in Conservation Society, City of San Antonio Historic this report will inform larger discussions about the Preservation Offi ce, Texas General Land Offi ce, future of the Alamo site within its existing urban and National Park Service. context, and its historical and cultural interpreta- Th e various historical designations that aff ect the tions for generations to come. three buildings, ranging from the international San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site designa- tion to the recent local eff orts to recognize the Woolworth Building as a Texas State Antiquities Landmark, have been summarized. In addition to documenting and evaluating the current offi cial designations, JGWA was asked to undertake an 1 Executive summary / Alamo Plaza Existing Buildings HISTORIC ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY HISTORY was constructed in the middle of the block between Alamo Plaza and Losoya Street. When it opened, In the early nineteenth century, Mission San the Palace Th eater was called “the fi nest theater in Antonio de Valero, now known as the Alamo, was the Southwest.” It was also said that the “Arcade outside of the village of San Antonio. Aft er the will be a big feature of the Palace Th eater” and 1836 battle the few buildings of the Alamo, as well “there is nothing like it in San Antonio.” Th e Palace as the surrounding area, were in ruins. Th e site was Th eater was constructed with a reinforced con- largely deserted and only a few adobe structures crete structural system and the main facade of the were located along the west side of the Alamo plaza. Arcade, facing Alamo Plaza, consisted of terra cotta When Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845, the and glazed bricks. federal government took over the grounds of the Th e theater proper was demolished in 1954, but a mission and it became a major supply depot for the portion of the three-story structure, including the U.S. Army. public Arcade, survives with its original decorative With the establishment of the government depot, fi rst fl oor intact; the upper commercial spaces re- the area west and south of the Alamo developed tain their form as well. Long associated with Louis into the commercial center of San Antonio. Wil- Santikos, an important Texas theater entrepreneur, liam A. Menger, a German immigrant, constructed the Arcade was restored and rehabilitated in 1983 a hotel and brewery just south of the Alamo. In along with the Crockett