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Bringing people together
Let me first note that I am not an expert in urban renewal, traffic management or architecture. I am writing this column as a citizen of San Antonio whose parish, San Fernando Cathedral, is in the middle of the proposed Main Plaza Redevelopment Plan. This is a project that has been greeted with a variety of opinions, including many from Catholics who legitimately differ. I understand that change is often greeted with skepticism and even acrimony. Hopefully from these differences will come the best plan for the common good. After all, we love the rich history of our city, and it is right that we do all that we can to preserve its legacy of architecture and unique charm.
While I understand the general criticisms and concerns that have been leveled in opposition to this plan, there are many good reasons to give the Main Plaza Redevelopment plan serious consideration and even support. It’s often said that San Fernando Cathedral is at the heart of San Antonio. Then it seems appropriate and desirable to me to surround that heart with natural beauty and a design that would allow people to gather to share in the history, culture and beauty of our city. The plan offers an opportunity to place the cathedral in a new, comfortable and welcoming area that can bring the institutions of our community together, civil, commercial and religious in an inviting way. It takes courage to imagine and support change, but many of the architectural masterpieces that we now admire would not exist, if people of vision did not advance their cause.
A famous example is the Via of the Conciliation in Rome, the famous avenue that gives access to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. At its conception there was hard resistance and strong suggestions that it would simply be a project of destruction, wiping out city blocks of old homes of the famous “borghi.” However, today, even its most vociferous critics would find it impossible to imagine the St. Peter’s Basilica without having the magnificent plaza that allows people from around the world to gather with the two columns of Bernini open like two welcoming arms. The change was bold, but created a new reality that pays proper respect to the past, while serving contemporary needs.
The Main Plaza Redevelopment Plan indeed pays tribute to our Hispanic history and our culture. Like many great cities of Spain and Latin America, this would provide San Antonio with a plaza consistent with our famous old world charm and contemporary function. The Riverwalk is truly a marvel to all who visit our great city, but doesn’t provide a central gathering space, at the heart of San Antonio, where people can move easily from place-to-place, from courthouse to city government, from the hustle and bustle of a 21st century city to the quiet sanctuary of an 18th century monument to faith. The plan, I believe, is true to our tradition and the quality of life that historically has identified our hometown.
The plan isn’t about faith and morals, but it speaks volumes about how we value the very human quality of life that is San Antonio. It is about our commitment to the common good. The plaza will not just benefit a select few, but will enrich the lives of those who visit and those of us who live here. Indeed the Main Plaza Redevelopment Plan will connect the two worlds in which we live, the modern world with its easy access to the Riverwalk and our Hispanic roots, providing at its center a plaza where people of all walks of life, will come together surrounded by the beauty of the old and the new.
As a citizen of San Antonio, and as a Catholic who takes great pride in the history and beauty of our city, I am thrilled at the prospect that San Fernando Cathedral, will be greeted at its doors by such a welcoming and beautiful plaza.
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