This story has been updated.
A year after UTSA released a report outlining potential plans for the future of the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC), the university has produced a document more fully assessing the three options — and proposing a fourth.
While UTSA officials say all options are still on the table, the latest report also proposes moving the half-century-old museum to a new space built near the Alamo.
The university is now taking steps to make that move while not eliminating any other options just yet, said Veronica Salazar, chief enterprise development officer and executive vice president of business affairs at UTSA.
“Looking at the assessment of the site and looking at the option to be [next to the Alamo], it’s looking like the most favorable site — if we choose to relocate,” she said. And, “if we choose to relocate the ITC, that site would be a prime location.”
UTSA officials already have entered into a memorandum of understanding with the City of San Antonio and 1859 Historic Hotels, owners of the Crockett Hotel, to build the museum on land currently used as a parking lot at 320 Bonham.
The idea was presented Friday at a board meeting of the Texas Historical Commission, the state agency that oversees historic preservation and places such as the Alamo district.
The report also focuses on the hotel site, versus other proposed sites, for its financial estimates for moving the museum. The estimated cost to develop the property behind the hotel for the ITC is $103.5 million. That compares to a $118.5 million cost for developing another site at Hemisfair and $178 million to remain in the Texas Pavilion.
A move outside of Hemisfair puts into question the future of the ITC building, a massive inverted pyramid structure with a domed theater and exhibits featuring artifacts from 24 cultures found in Texas. The building sits on a 6.5-acre parcel in the eastern zone of Hemisfair.
About 60,000 people visit the ITC annually.
“If [the hotel parking lot] location is feasible, if we find that it is possible for us to build on this site, it will allow us then to fully monetize the rest of the Hemisfair campus property,” Salazar said. “We had always intended since the beginning to use that land to support the future of the ITC.”
Salazar said the university would put out a call to developers to gauge interest in the pavilion building if the museum is moved elsewhere.
Hemisfair and the ITC site have been floated as a location for a new sports venue or district — with an arena, ballfield, or both — likely given its proximity to the city-owned Henry B. González Convention Center and other downtown amenities.
The 25-page UTSA report, released Friday, was developed by three task forces and includes assessments from experts and the input of a year-long community engagement process. Salazar is leading the ITC visioning process.
The university posed three scenarios during a 16-month “visioning process” in 2021 and 2022 that combined the feedback of experts, civic leaders and public outreach. The result was a 208-page report with three potential scenarios.
Those concepts included keeping the ITC and its collection of cultural and historic artifacts in its current building, known as the Texas Pavilion.
A 2021 report by a committee of civic leaders and experts found key issues with remaining in the repurposed 1968 pavilion, including a bill of $28 million in deferred maintenance and an estimated $2 million per year for ongoing maintenance.
It also stated that the facility, despite being a Smithsonian affiliate, “does not meet [the] American Association of Museums accreditation standard.” That limits the institution’s access to touring exhibitions, “another of the goals we’re trying to achieve,” Salazar said.
Other scenarios studied in the report include moving the museum to another building within Hemisfair or relocating the ITC to a university campus.
Museum planning professionals who were consulted about the previously suggested scenarios have pinpointed locations outside of Hemisfair.
Those include both the UTSA Southwest and Downtown campuses, the university’s Monterey Building on South Frio Street and the hotel parking lot adjacent to the Alamo.
At about 2 acres, the parking lot is steps from the Alamo, which draws 2.5 million visitors a year, Salazar said, adding that capitalizing on tourism foot traffic is one of the goals of the future visioning process. The report estimates that the annual number of visitors to the ITC in the Alamo location will increase from 62,000 (2019) to 200,000 by its third year of operation.
Revenue estimates also increase — from $1.8 million a year in the current building to $3.7 million in a new facility near the shrine.
The hotel site was proposed after discussions with museum professionals and developers, as well as the City of San Antonio, she said. “[They said] we have a need for parking, but we think this site could be more, so it was a really collaborative effort with the city.”
The university entered into a memorandum of understanding with the city to become partners in the project. City leaders see it as an opportunity to develop parking and office space for the Alamo Redevelopment Plan, Salazar said.
A due diligence process kicked off by the agreement is expected to take six months, after which the university plans to assess its feasibility and narrow the options to a single site.
“Although obviously, [the hotel parking lot] is an excellent site and we’re very excited, we are still evaluating all of the other options,” Salazar said.
The main photograph in this story has been changed to show the Crockett Hotel. A previous image that pictured the Emily Morgan Hotel incorrectly identified it as the Crockett.
