UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures 801 E. César E. Chávez Blvd., (210) 458-2300, texancultures.utsa.edu First opened as the Texas State Exhibits Pavilion during Hemisfair ‘68, the Institute of Texan Cultures now operates as a museum under the wing of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Through exhibits, events and outreach programs, the Institute of Texan Cultures celebrates the various peoples from around the world that have made their home in the Lone Star State. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Michael Barera

The Conservation Society of San Antonio on Wednesday will file a temporary restraining order against the University of Texas at San Antonio to halt further demolition of downtown’s Institute of Texan Cultures, according to the nonprofit’s top official.

The latest legal battle between the Conservation Society and UTSA comes after the society filed a lawsuit last week arguing that the school’s plans to tear down the nearly six-decade-old building violates state law. Despite the pending court case, the university has began demolishing the building, which was built to house the Texas Pavilion during 1968’s Hemisfair.

“Our assumption when we filed that petition was that UTSA was doing environmental remediation like removing asbestos, lead paint and that sort of stuff,” Conservation Society Executive Director Vince Michael told the Current. “Our assumption was that UTSA wasn’t actually doing structural demolition when we filed that lawsuit, and our hope was to pause the demolition so that reuse of the building could be considered.”

UTSA began removing panels from one side of the building Tuesday, as seen in a Facebook video posted by Conservation Society President Lewis Vetter.

“This appears to be in violation of the demolition permit issued by the Texas Historical Commission, including a public process for mitigation,” Vetter wrote on Facebook. “It seems they may have accelerated demolition in response to our lawsuit.”

Although a UTSA spokesperson told the Express-News construction crews removed the panels to “enable equipment access to the upper floor of the structure” for environmental remediation, Michael and Vetter are calling bullshit.

“What [Vetter] observed was that the panels they pulled off were not simply for access remediation, but those panels were, in fact, smashed on the ground and being demolished,” Michael said.

UTSA, which owns the structure, wants to bulldoze it so the land can be leased to the city. The city wants to use the space for a $1.5 billion basketball arena for the San Antonio Spurs.

That new basketball facility would be just one part of the broader Project Marvel plan — a multi-billion-dollar sports and entertainment district stretching from Hemisfair across I-35 to the Alamodome area.

In October, the Texas Historical Commission (THC) voted to designate the Texas Pavilion a State Antiquities Landmark. However, that designation doesn’t protect the building from being altered or destroyed, so long as its owner first gets THC permission.

Despite the designation, the THC in December granted UTSA a demolition permit to tear down the structure.

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This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...