Trump mentions San Antonio in comments about success of walls - there is no wall around San Antonio

Meanwhile in San Antonio.

Thousands were surprised and confused Saturday to discover the reason for the Alamo City's success and safety was our wall.

In comments preceding his announcement on the continuing partial government shutdown and border security, President Donald Trump cited San Antonio when speaking about the effectiveness of security walls.

"Everybody knows that walls work. You look at different places they put up a wall, no problem. You look at San Antonio. You look at so many different places. They go from one of the most unsafe cities in the country to one of the safest cities, immediately, immediately."

Let that one rumble around in your head for a bit.

A quick search (consisting of looking out the window and then checking Texas Department of Transportation traffic cameras) found no walls barring anyone from San Antonio. In fact, the city is often known as one of the most welcoming and friendly cities in Texas.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Saturday that San Antonio is indeed one of the safest's cities in the U.S.

"San Antonio is one of the safest big cities in the nation," Nirenberg said. "The Express-News reported last year that crime is at a 30-year low here. The plummeting crime rate is due to the hard work being done by the brave men and women of the San Antonio Police Department."

The mayor did not comment on the city's wall. Probably because there isn't one.

San Antonio remains about 150 miles from Mexico. The effectiveness of a wall around San Antonio - real or imagined - to keep America's southern border safe remains unclear.

The only wall of any notoriety in San Antonio's history are the walls of the Alamo. And unfortunately, those didn't work out too well for us last time.

But the one thing we did find in reference the president's comments on San Antonio's wall was a flood of social media memes and snark. Enjoy.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/politics/article/Trump-mentions-San-Antonio-in-comments-about-13547059.php

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>>4829003

Buried mission wall in San Antonio exposed at job site

A section of a buried, centuries-old wall footing, once part of a protective perimeter surrounding Mission Concepción, was hit by heavy equipment last week during construction of a controversial apartment complex next to the historic mission.

One person close to the project, which will incorporate part of a 1920s seminary campus into the new complex, said the damage to the fragile, 1700s footing of the mission’s north wall was substantial. But city officials said only an upper layer of the wall’s foundation was revealed and was not structurally compromised “A portion of Mission Concepción’s original wall was exposed, through grading, during construction for the project at St. John’s Seminary last week,” Ximena Copa-Wiggins, public relations manager with the city’s Office of Historic Preservation, said in a statement.

“As part of this project, an archaeologist (contracted by developer) was required to be on-site, monitoring work, and was present at the time of the incident. All the work in the area has stopped until a mitigation plan is submitted to and approved by the state, since they are working under the Antiquities Code. It is important to note that the full length of the limestone footing remains intact,” she added.

The Texas Historical Commission, which issues permits under the code, referred questions about the incident to the city.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio, which owns the 12.5-acre seminary site next to the mission, has a long-term lease with local builder 210 Development Group for the 228-unit complex. The development has been hailed as a way to save and reuse at least five of the 14 buildings of the seminary, which operated from 1920 to 1970 but has since fallen into disrepair. Two of the preserved structures will be restored by the archdiocese. Three others will be part of the apartment complex.

But the project has been opposed by residents who do not want apartments by the mission, which includes the nation’s oldest unrestored stone church, dedicated in 1755. 210 Development also took criticism when seeking a variance last year on height limits related to viewshed restrictions for the mission. According to articles published last year, the apartment complex’s nine buildings, standing up to three stories tall with sloped roofs, will exceed height restrictions by up to 11 feet.

The variances were approved by the city’s Historic and Design Review Commission and Board of Adjustment. The height limits are part of the Mission Protection Overlay, a buffer zone created by the city in 2014 to control growth around San Antonio’s Spanish colonial missions. In 2015, the missions, including the state-owned Alamo, or Mission San Antonio de Valero, were inscribed as the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas.

Father David Garcia said last week’s incident was related to construction of a road or driveway that will have to be realigned or built with a structural feature to protect the wall footing. He did not know details of how it occurred, or how large an area was affected.

“Primarily, what I understand is that they were working on this road or driveway when they hit the wall and they stopped work right away,” he said. “If they continue to do it at that spot, they’re going to have to do something to protect that wall.”

Garcia said he believes “very little” damage, if that, occurred to the underground wall footing and that it was “purely an accident.” He said the archdiocese wants to ensure that archaeological and historical assets are preserved.

“It’s a very sensitive site,” Garcia said. “We want to do everything we can to respect it.”

Calls to 210 Development and NRP Contractors, the construction firm on the site, were not returned.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Buried-mission-wall-in-San-Antonio-damaged-at-job-13464272.php

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>>4829396

I'm down for a scavenger hunt, how about you?