HemisFair San Antonio - Part 3

[@malakib1998]

I love my beautiful historic city of San Antonio. My parents told me countless stories of Hemisfair '68. They were dating and my dad took my mom to see the Fair, ate the food, saw all the beautiful pavilions and art/cultural sites, and was there during monorail tragedy. They saw so many crying/yelling from their injuries and tried to help. 20 years later, my father was a Head Supervisor at the Convention Center, Hemisfair Arena, and Beethoven Hall/later renamed Lila Cockrell Theater. He disassembled and reassembled the floor for many major historic concerts, events, and San Antonio Spurs homecourt. I met many celebrities at the Arena and have my very first Coyote stuffed animal signed by the original Coyote. So saddened to see the Convention Center and Hemisfair Arena demolished after only lasting a few short decades. I appreciate and cherish old architecture and the rich history of our city's buildings and places. I honestly miss the skyrides, seeing the horse stables at Brackenridge Park, the old Carousel, paddle boats, The Buttercrust Bakery, and so many lost treasures. It upsets me when people with no respect vandalizes our city and any hard working businesses both small and big. I love learning about my city, hearing the stories of memories, and looking at old photos and videos of the past. So wonderful seeing the Tower being built from the ground up. I honestly feel for those homeowners who had their home demolished in order to move to have all this built. Hemisfair Tower and the Riverwalk would be so breathtaking to go on a romantic date with someone you love.

[@lou1958]

Sommers Drug Store enchiladas. Riding downtown on the bus for a dime. Watching Godzilla movies at the Majestic or Aztec theaters. Magical times of simplicity and wonder. Of course I was a kid at the time.

[@TerryReedMiss]

HAHAHA ... Lied A Lot! Oh yeah ... that was one hot mess at the time! I was only a kid but I can remember my Dad hollering about it! His business was involved, and the oil industry in Texas really needed/wanted this whole thing to go over well. We lived in Corpus but Dad and Mom rented a townhouse for the whole year of the fair - our whole family had a ball! I think going to the fair was my first real experience with different cultures; I later became an anthropologist! ;-D

[@music_by_carlos]

badass documentary thank u fro this

[@rbsmith3365]

I remembered World Fair ‘68.and what’s the purpose? To celebrate city founded 250th anniversary. It wasn’t easy for SA since, it was expensive and Tower of Americans it cost $5 million and mortgage was paid in 1986! My mother and grandmother told me about the property. It was a big slum across Joske’s dept store. Very eyesore. SA River was dirty too. So, the city bought out their homes and businesses at fair market value. About 22 blocks long, was razed. Some historical buildings were saved for repurposed. Before Tower site, it was 1868 Catholic Church it was razed too. And What cost for adults? $2. Children? I don’t recall. Until Hemisfair ends on September. Sunday September 15th, 1968 which on my birthday. Monorail slipped from track and several people was fallen on the ground. I don’t remember how many. I believe they had a lawsuit against Hemisfair. Monorail was removed around 1984 but entire park because of semi-decaying.

[@videographer1KIK]

I WAS THERE * THANKS MOM AND DAD * REMEMBER THE MONORAIL

[@austinteutsch]

Hemisphere 68 make H.B Zackary a multi-millionaire.

[@ironmatic1]

How? The construction was a joint venture between Darragh & Lyda, Inc. and H.A. Lott, Inc.

[@austinteutsch]

@@ironmatic1 Who do you think built a lot of hotels and single family dwellings in the 60's for all the tourists that came in. Ray Ellison also made a killing.

[@ironmatic1]

@@austinteutsch Are you sure H.B. Zachry built single family homes?

[@austinteutsch]

Yes. It wasn't his forte, but he tried it for a while in competition with Ray Ellison. Zackary was a hotel, convention center, stores, jails, schools kinda builder in the 60's and 70's. I'm sure he built the Placio Del Rio hotel those cubicles that were stacked on top of one another by the riverwalk ub /

[@ironmatic1]

Yes H.B. Zachry built the Palacio del Rio. Didn't make the connection between that and Hemisfair yesterday... Of course there's the middle school named for him the year after his death near 1604 and Culebra--don't think it would be crazy to assume the Zachary company was the GC and gave NISD a nice low bid for that. Taft High School was built at the same time by them, I went there for a semester. Live in a trash Ray Ellison shack.