San Antonio Plaza makes APA Great Places list

Birmingham, AL locked up #1

Jon Boyd, Oct 17, 10.

Main Plaza in San Antonio ranked ninth and the Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden in Birmingham AL ranked first in the American Planning Association’s 2010 top great places awards. The original Main Plaza dates back about 300 years, according to the APA:

Located between the Riverwalk to the east, San Fernando Cathedral and City Council Chambers to the west, Commerce Street to the north and Bexar County Courthouse on Market Street to the south.
As one of the only surviving Spanish colonial plazas in the nation, Main Plaza has been a part of downtown San Antonio since the early 18th century. New World Spanish urban planners created a lively community here by connecting the city’s cathedral with “Plaza de las Islas,” as the area was originally named.

Some 200 years later, toward the end of the 1800s, the plaza began to lose its appeal as residents moved away from downtown. The road going through the center of the plaza, Market Street, was widened for automobiles, while the scale of new 20th century buildings erected nearby dwarfed the plaza. Then in the 1960s, a portion of the plaza was made into a park despite citizen protests against this historically impacting change.
The plaza’s downward trajectory didn’t change until 2005 when former Mayor Phil Hardberger proposed to renovate Main Plaza and enliven the space. To restore Main Plaza’s former appeal to pedestrians, city planners realigned streets that were separating the plaza from San Fernando Cathedral and the Bexar County Courthouse. Planners also added a new path to connect the plaza with the River Walk by making it the focal point of San Antonio’s city center.

Completed in April 2008, the $12 million renovation created a multitude of new additions to the plaza. Five new interactive fountains are located in the center of the Plaza, helping create a serene and cool atmosphere — and a fun place for kids to play. Free wi-fi has been added as well as abundant seating in shaded areas.

Small vignettes of San Antonio’s history are scattered throughout the plaza in 30 artistic pavers, each telling a historically accurate story about the plaza through quotes and drawings, by Char Miller. With the Lady Justice Fountain dating back to 1896, and San Fernando Cathedral, which is the oldest continuously operated cathedral in the nation and the oldest building in Texas, it becomes evident that Main Plaza embodies San Antonio’s rich history.

Local culture unfolds in Main Plaza every day, from musicians performing and artists displaying their works, to farmers selling produce. The vivid history, accompanied by the local culture, and Spanish influences, shows that Main Plaza is truly the “cultural corazón of the city.”

The Charles W. Ireland Sculpture Garden in Birmingham, AL secured the number one spot on the APA list. Other APA-designated great places include Boston’s Emerald Necklace and the revitalized Bryant Park in New York City.