Battle of Flowers Association to Say NO to New Alamo Plan

The second plan to 're-imagine the Alamo' is already quickly circling the drain, just like the original plan did, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

The influential Battle of Flowers Assocition says it will appear at tonight's public hearing on the new plan to speak out against the proposal, which has been in both plans, to close Alamo Street to all traffic, and turn the entire Plaza into a lowered, pedestrians only area.

"For the past century and a quarter, participants in the parade have paused in front of the Alamo paying homage to the fallen heroes by placing a floral tribute on the Alamo grounds," the Association said.

It said nobody from the Master Plan committee consulted with them before coming up with this new idea, and it says the 'alternative parade routes,' including winding the Battle of Flowers Parade behind the Alamo, are unsatisfactory.

The Battle of Flowers Association says the annual parade, which is a highlight of Fiesta, has become a tradition for generation of families and is among the most viewed parades in the nation largely due to its strong connection with the Alamo.

"The proposed rerouting of the Battle of Flowers Parade does not take into consideration many of the aspects of logistics nor the pageantry that have become synonymous with the parade’s Fiesta celebration."

The new plan, which removes the 'plexiglas wall' around Alamo Plaza and replaces it by lowering the Plaza by 18 inches and surrounding it with trees to present a sense of the 'space' formerly occupied by the Mission grounds and to show the true size of the area where the 1836 battle took place, is already under withering fire for proposing moving the Twentieth-Century Cenotaph to an area near the Menger Hotel, south of the Alamo.

Public hearings on the second master plan are set for the rest of this week, and City Council is expected to discuss it later this summer.


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