TEXANS CONCERNS ARE LEGIT (ALAMO CENOTAPH)

     

    In 2017 This Is Texas Freedom Force engaged in the battle to stop the City of San Antonio and General Land Office's George P Bush from removing the Alamo Cenotaph. We say remove, instead of move, because there is plenty of speculation and concern that the Alamo Cenotaph could be damaged or even destroyed if they try to move it. There are many reasons why Texans believe this to be true and they have a valid argument. 

 The City of San Antonio doesn't have a good track record when it comes to moving monuments. In September of 2017 the City of San Antonio, under the leadership of Mayor Ron Nirenberg, moved forward on a proposal brought fourth by District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino and District 2 Councilman Cruz Shaw, to remove the Travis Park Monument that had stood in Travis Park since 1899. During the process of removal, crews took a jackhammer to the base of the monument and damaged it. Not only that but the butt of the gun in the soldiers hand was broke as well as the barrel. To top it all off, when the UDC who filed a lawsuit against the city, went to inspect the monument and they saw that the time capsule, which contained several items, including letters from confederate figures, keepsakes carried by rebel soldiers in the war, and a prayer book which was carried by a Confederate soldier into captivity in a Union prisoner of war camp, had all been destroyed by water damage which most likely happened while moving it and/or storing it (Hurricane Harvey had just hit Texas and there was plenty of rain in San Antonio during that week). The Travis Park Monument is small compared to the Alamo Cenotaph, which stands 60ft high, 12 feet wide, and 40 feet long, and is much more complex. It is comprised of many irreplaceable and fragile carved marble slabs, each weighing many tons, permanently fixed to a steel infrastructure. It was built to stand for centuries, not be moved around so that George P Bush, Mayor Nirenberg, Roberto Trevino and Alamo CEO Douglas McDonald could "Reimagine The Alamo".

    Texans are very concerned about the "Reimagine The Alamo Plan" because they fear the Alamo Cenotaph will end up in a cold dark basement. never to be seen again, just like the city did with the Travis Park Monument. Many fear that once the Cenotaph comes down the city will cough up some excuse why they can't put it back up. These concerns are warranted too. The City of San Antonio nor George P Bush has ever showed the public a plan on how they are going to move the Alamo Cenotaph, what contingencies are in place if anything goes wrong, and how much tax payers are going to fork over to move it. The only thing that the public has seen and heard are bogus claims and pictures showing the Cenotaph in front of the Menger Hotel. Why has the city not released detailed plans for the move/remove and relocation?

 A serious plan would entail the hiring of a team of engineers to compile a risk, cost and detailed action plan on dismantling the Alamo Cenotaph and the move. We are not talking about your average run of the mill engineers either. It is extremely important that they hire engineers that have a proven track record and experience preserving and moving large, heavy marble sculptures. We must point out that if the City of San Antonio breaks one of the marble slabs in a "Uh-oh" or "Ooops" moment, it will be extremely hard, if not impossible, to match the marble slabs that make up the Alamo Cenotaph. After the engineers come up with a plan, this plan should be made public so the people of Texas could review and express any concerns with the plans. 

Next, if a plan to move the monument is still pressed on Texans, despite their overwhelmingly objections, every panel on the monument would need to be rigorously measured and digitally scanned, and the cost made of each of the Coppini sculptures, so that in the event of a disaster, any destroyed or damaged panels could be attempted to recreate. Not only that but the city of San Antonio should have a few professional sculptors of equal talent as Coppini retained and ready to attempt to recreate the existing panels. 

Funding for the move and disaster contingencies would need to be escrowed in advance, which may run into the millions of public tax payer dollars. To go a step further, since its George P Bush, Roberto Trevino, Ron Nirenberg and Douglas McDonald who seem to be the only ones wanting to move the Alamo Cenotaph, they should fork over the money instead of making the people of Texas have to cover the cost for their brainless and idiotic idea. We guarantee you that if they attempt to move this massive and beautiful monument, there will be a "Ooops" moment and the cost will go up from there (That is if the Cenotaph is even put back up, TITFF is still under the impression that they will warehouse it, after they damage or destroy it, because the Alamo Cenotaph honors those men who fought and died for liberty and they are considered heroes to Texans. You can't have that when you want to "Honor both sides and Reimagine The Alamo").

Last but not least a detailed timeline of events would need to be published to the public regarding every facet of the move, including start and completion dates. Council would have to make ironclad guarantees that once the process begins, the only result would be the Cenotaph is in better condition than it is today and that it will stand on the Alamo Footprint honoring the men who gave it all for Texas.

Since day 1 the City of San Antonio and George P Bush have ignored the public. Then Mayor Nirenberg and Roberto Trevino make comments suggesting "Honoring both sides". We all know Mayor Ron Nirenberg is in (political) bed with the Castro Brothers. Remember it was Rosie Castro, Julian and Joaquin Castro's mother that said.....




 

They used to take us there when we were schoolchildren. They told us how glorious that battle was. When I grew up I learned that "heroes" of the Alamo were a bunch of drunks and crooks and slaveholding imperialist who conquered land that didn't belong to them. But as a little girl I got the message - we were losers. I can truly say that I hate that place and everything that it stands for.
                                                                                                                             Rosie Castro

Rosie Castro hates the Alamo. So it is no surprise that a mayor who is buddied up with the Castro family would be the one to bring forth the "Reimagine the Alamo Plan". All of what we have mentioned above, along with action by the city council and several other comments from Trevino, Nirenberg, and George P Bush is why Texans do not trust them. How can any red blooded Texan trust them to honor our Alamo and Cenotaph when Roberto Trevino laughs in the face of Texans and says "Our lawyers will find a way around that" when he is presented the deed of the Alamo Cenotaph which says the space cannot be used for anything else but the Cenotaph? How can Texans trust them when Mayor Ron Nirenberg makes quotes about honoring both sides? The answer is you can't.

Make no mistake Texans, this isn't about honoring our Alamo Defenders, its all about money and rewriting history. The Alamo Cenotaph is exactly where Texans, and most importantly where Coppini want it, in the middle of the Alamo Footprint where the sun would rise on the Alamo Defenders in the East and set on them in the West. If Mayor Nirenberg truly meant the quote "honor both side", the Travis Park Monument would still be standing in Travis Park. Texans, it's time to put a stop to the rewriting and watering down of our Texas history. If you will not fight for the Spirit of Sacrfice now, you most likely will never fight at all. 

I think everyone who shed blood in the defense of liberty and the things that they believe in, on both sides, ought to be honored, and that's exactly what the intent of this redevelopment plan is.
                                                                                                                                    Mayor Ron Nirenberg

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