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A HISTORY OF THE SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART
he San Antonio Museum of Art is located in the renovated Lone Star Brewing
Company. The brewery opened in 1884 on the banks of the historic San Antonio River and was purchased in 1892 by Mr. Adolphus A. Busch, the renowned St. Louis brewer. The architectural firm of E. Jungenfeld and Company was joined by the prominent San Antonio firm of Wahrenberger and Beckmann to supervise a major expansion program launched by Mr. Busch. The expansion plan was not completed until 1904, when two towers
and numerous buildings covered a ten-acre site. The Lone Star Brewery prospered
until Prohibition. As the brewery's fortunes declined, alcohol production
was replaced by that of a non-alcoholic beverage called Tango, which
was advertised to make the palate "dance with joy." In 1921, the
brewery was transformed into the short-lived Lone Star Cotton Mills, which
operated until 1925.
For nearly fifty years, the buildings of what had been San Antonio's largest
industrial complex suffered neglect and decay. They were variously used
for auto repair, for uniform storage during World War II, as an ice distribution
center, and as an office for the Civilian Conservation Corps during the
Depression era. Then in 1970 the Museum Association's new director, Mr.
Jack McGregor, rediscovered the dilapidated buildings. The Association's
Board supported his vision to acquire the brewery for an art museum to complement
the Witte Museum, whose collections focused primarily on science and history.
Seven years of planning, fund-raising, and renovation followed.
The Lone Star Brewery was entered on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1972. It was transformed under the guidance of the Cambridge Seven Architects,
assisted by associated architects Chumney, Jones, and Kell. The innovative
renovation design that complemented the historic aspects of the buildings
was praised in Progressive Architecture magazine, the New York
Times, and Museum News. Mayor Lila Cockrell fittingly christened
the new San Antonio Museum of Art on July 13, 1977 with the breaking of
a bottle of beer. When the doors opened to the public on March 1, 1981, nearly
13,000 visitors flocked to see the long-awaited museum.
The Museum has continued to grow dramatically. Major renovations have been
undertaken and more are projected for the future to best house the museum's
impressive permanent collections of classical antiquities, Egyptian art,
Asian art, and European and American painting and sculpture, in addition
to the Latin American collections. The new wing that is the Nelson A. Rockefeller
Center for Latin American Art was designed by the architectural firm Overland
Partners.
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