{"id":45796,"date":"2025-11-12T01:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T01:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/45796\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T01:34:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T01:34:14","slug":"land-commissioner-says-alamo-plans-remain-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/45796\/","title":{"rendered":"Land Commissioner says Alamo plans remain the same"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weeks after the Alamo Trust\u2019s top leader was ousted<\/a> for writings deemed \u201cincompatible\u201d with state leaders\u2019 vision, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told reporters she doesn\u2019t foresee revisiting the way the landmark is represented in its ongoing redevelopment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis museum has always had the plan to discuss the battle in the context of time, from the early Native Americans, all the way through how it affects pop culture today,\u201d Buckingham said Tuesday. \u201cThose plans have not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like most other statewide officials, Buckingham, a former Republican state senator from Austin, is up for reelection in 2026.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday she attended a Veterans Day event at the Alamo, joking in her remarks that her office is \u201cthe agency that rolls up our sleeves, touches your lives in a positive way, and for the most part, you had no idea we existed.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some San Antonians, that changed last month when Buckingham responded to an Alamo Trust<\/a> social media post recognizing Indigenous People\u2019s Day, declaring it<\/a> \u201cwoke,\u201d and vowing to hold those responsible accountable.<\/p>\n

Within days, pages from Alamo\u00a0Trust Inc. President and CEO Kate Rogers\u2019 doctoral dissertation were circulating among state leaders, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick\u00a0was calling for Rogers\u2019 resignation<\/a>, saying her views were out of line with a historic site he\u2019s long insisted must be focused on the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.<\/p>\n

Local officials panned those complaints, with Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones calling for state leaders to have the \u201ccourage to tell the varied experiences of those at the Alamo,\u201d and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai suggesting Texas GOP leaders\u2019 politicization of history had gone so far, it could next include denying the existence of Japanese internment camps.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, however, state and local leaders once again shared a stage framed with scaffolding for a project they hope will soon become both a beacon of Texas independence and economic boon.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left to right, Alamo senior historian Ernesto Rodriguez, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham attend the Alamo Cenotaph rededication ceremony in front of the Alamo on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Despite many differences of opinion over the years \u2014 including how to talk about Joe<\/a>, a slave who provided one of the only the only first-hand accounts of the battle of the Alamo, and how much to feature the site\u2019s historic contributions from Native Americans \u2014 they\u2019re now roughly a year into construction on a half-billion dollar redevelopment,<\/a> visitor center and museum project.<\/p>\n

That includes an expensive preservation effort for the Alamo\u00a0Cenotaph, a monument to the Alamo defenders that was first dedicated on Veterans Day in 1940, and was again the cause for celebration Tuesday after its restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the site of some of Texas\u2019s earliest veterans,\u201d Buckingham said. \u201cThey lay the ultimate sacrifice at the shrine of Texas liberty, and their sacrifice will be remembered because as this beautiful cenotaph glistens with their spirit, their spirit lives in us and among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones speaks at the Alamo Cenotaph rededication on Tuesday, Nov. 11. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Jones used the opportunity to speak about the importance of preserving accurate history.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny veteran and any studier of history knows the tight, tight connections between politics and history,\u201d said Jones, who served in the Air Force and went on to serve as the branch\u2019s under secretary.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans also understand the most important aspect of any war is to understand why it\u2019s being fought, whether it\u2019s being fought around slavery, around paying taxes, or around something else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Newly appointed Alamo Trust President and CEO Hope Andrade, who served as Texas Secretary of State under then-Gov. Rick Perry, said the monument\u2019s massive stones had started to come unfixed and its drainage system had failed, but there\u2019s now a plan in place for future maintenance so that it doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the birthplace of our Texas identity,\u201d said Andrade. \u201c[It] will soon be complemented by thoughtful landscaping and lighting to allow it to be admired both day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Alamo Trust President and CEO Hope Andrade was chosen to replace ousted leader Kate Rogers. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Leaders were also joined on stage by longtime Alamo historian Ernesto Rodriguez<\/a>, an advocate for bringing a wide variety of perspectives into the site\u2019s overall narrative, who spoke about the selection of Italian sculptor Pompeo\u00a0Coppini to design the memorial.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took on the challenge, and he worked feverishly to provide the people of Texas and all Americans in the world with the monument that would be fitting for their sacrifice,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

Afterward, Buckingham took questions from the press, clearly stating that the redevelopment vision is \u201csettled and done,\u201d staying consistent with what Rogers and others on the Alamo team have been working on for the past two and a half years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project is going full steam ahead. Hope Andrade is doing a great job, and so we\u2019re cooking with gas, as they say,\u201d Buckingham said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do great things and really make a visit to the Alamo worthy of the significance of the events for the first time since the battle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weeks after the Alamo Trust\u2019s top leader was ousted for writings deemed \u201cincompatible\u201d with state leaders\u2019 vision, Land…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1483,26633,4556,2112,26634,13987,82,84,83,92,3028,94],"class_list":["post-45796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-alamo","tag-alamo-cenotaph","tag-dawn-buckingham","tag-gina-ortiz-jones","tag-hope-andrade","tag-kate-rogers","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-top-story","tag-typedaily","tag-wc-750-1000"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}