San Antonio Uncovered by Mark Louis Rybczyk

Author:Mark Louis Rybczyk
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781595347589
Publisher: Trinity University Press
Published: 2016-09-03T04:00:00+00:00

Artes Graficas Building, the Palace Livery Stable, now law offices

The original painted sign for the Palace Livery Stable can be seen faintly on the outside of this old building constructed in 1910 on Camaron Street. It has served as everything from stables and a blacksmith shop to a fireworks factory and a publishing company. It was renovated in 1980 and is now used as law offices.

The Pavilion by Hilton, formerly the Humble Oil Pavilion and the Schultze Store

Located at the west entrance of HemisFair Park, this is one of a handful of structures that was spared the wrecking ball that decimated the neighborhood earmarked for the World’s Fair. Its finely detailed cast iron work was made locally, and the building is one of the city’s last Italianate-style commercial buildings. During HemisFair, this old store was used as the Humble Oil Pavilion and later became a melodrama playhouse. It is currently a meeting and banquet facility for the Hilton Palacio Del Rio.

The Schultze Store symbolizes the indecision that has characterized the redevelopment of the HemisFair site. Architect O’Neil Ford wanted to save most of the neighborhood and incorporate the buildings into the World’s Fair. Planners opted for a mass urban renewal project the likes of which San Antonio had never seen before or since. Entire neighborhoods, including churches, were razed.

Other readapted structures include the old Menger Soap Factory, now an office for the Soapworks Apartments downtown; the Federal Reserve Bank, which today houses the Mexican Consulate; and the Mexican American Unity Council, which occupies a seventy-year-old elementary school building in Prospect Hill. The Koehler House, once the home of Pearl Brewery heirs, is now used by San Antonio College. The Junior League has its offices in the former home of Claudius King, and the Conservation Society uses the former Anton Wulff home as its headquarters. The American Security Life building (at St. Mary’s and Pecan Streets) and the Maverick, Brady, and Majestic buildings (on Houston Street) have been converted into apartment complexes. The downtown Cadillac dealership near the Central Library is now the Cadillac Lofts. One of the most unusual reuse projects is in northeast San Antonio, where Windsor Park Mall became the corporate headquarters for Rackspace.

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