Battle of Flowers group agrees to reroute historic Fiesta parade for Alamo plan

Updated 6:30 a.m.

After vocal protests at public meetings over the summer, the Battle of Flowers Association has agreed to change its historic route to accommodate the Alamo interpretive plan, District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño said Wednesday night via text. [ View updates to the plan. ]

The Fiesta Flambeau Parade Association and the Texas Cavaliers have also agreed to the changes. The Cavaliers’ Fiesta parade takes place on the river, but the investiture of King Antonio takes place at the Alamo.

Instead of traveling north to south in front of the shrine on Alamo Street, the new route will move behind the complex on Bonham Street and approach the facade from the east alongside the Menger Hotel.

Traditionally, the floats and other entries stopped when they reached a direct line of sight with the facade flanked by grandstand seating. Cadets would then take flower arrangements from the float and carry them 200 feet to the roped-off greensward in front of the church to honor the defenders of the famous 1836 battle.

However, under the latest draft of the Alamo interpretive plan, Alamo Street would be permanently closed to traffic and encircled using some form of barriers to make a kind of open-air museum. Visitors would enter at the historic Crockett Building, the three-story building directly across the street from the church that’s home to a visitors center and gift shops.

Under the agreed upon plan, the flower ceremony will take place closer to the Menger, where south gate palisade will be recreated as part of the permanent plan. This gate is referred to as the entrance of the Alamo compound, according to a memorandum of understanding between Treviño and the Texas Cavaliers. The cadets would walk a lesser distance of 80 feet to get to the greensward.

Treviño said while an agreement has been reached with Fiesta’s main parade groups, there are still some “stipulations we are still discussing, but they deal mostly with the Fiesta Commission and the state of Texas.”

For the Battle of Flowers Association, the agreement is complete 180-degree reversal of its stance to keep the route in place: “We want the route!” That’s what the group chanted at one of the public Alamo meetings in June.

The Battle of Flowers Association is having none of the proposal to move the parade route. #alamo2018 pic.twitter.com/XOqBi1yurd

— Ben Olivo (@rbolivo) June 22, 2018

Anne-Laura Block, president of the Battle of Flowers Association, did not return an interview request Wednesday night.

The 29-member Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee is scheduled to vote on the plan 6:30 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 30) at City Council chambers in the Municipal Plaza building, 105 Main Plaza. The plan eventually goes to the Alamo Executive Committee — composed of Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush.

It’s scheduled to go before the City Council on Oct. 18, when the Council will vote on whether to lease city-owned plaza property to the state, and on the Alamo and Houston streets closures.