Historical Panel Delays Vote on Moving Alamo Cenotaph

Tourists pose for a souvenir photograph in front of Mission San Antonio de Valero, better known as The Alamo. The former Franciscan mission was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 during Texas' war for independence from Mexico where Texian defenders were defeated by Mexican troops under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
Robert Alexander/Getty Images

A state historical review panel delayed a vote Tuesday on whether to move the Alamo Cenotaph, a memorial to the 200 Alamo defenders killed by the Mexican army in an 1836 assault during the war for Texas independence.

The Texas Historical Commission put off its vote for at least two months, saying commissioners want more information on where the monument might be moved and what restoration work it may need. It's a key piece in a major renovation of the Alamo.

The 58-foot-tall marble slab has been a focal feature of Alamo Plaza in downtown San Antonio since 1939.

Planners of a $450 million Alamo renovation project have proposed moving the monument to a place about 500 feet to the south of its longtime home, a proposal that has drawn fierce opposition from descendants of the Alamo's 1836 defenders.

The Alamo Defender Descendants Association is fighting to keep the Cenotaph within the area once surrounded by the Alamo's walls. It hopes to have the monument declared a cemetery in the hope of stopping the move.

The commission's next meeting is scheduled for March 24-25 in the Dallas suburb of Plano.

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