San Antonio, City Exceptional

Mark Langford, photography
Joe Carroll Rust, narrative
A PUBLICATION OF THE NORTH SAN ANTONIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

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Images of Culture & Enterprise
Mark Langford, photography
Joe Carroll Rust, narrative
A Publication of the
North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
Historical Publishing Network, a division of Lammert Incorporated, San Antonio, Texas

Previous page, clockwise from top left:
Concord Park II is a dynamic new office development in far north San Antonio.
A ride on the Brackenridge Eagle in Brackenridge Park is a treat to both townfolk and tourists alike.
The flora of the San Antonio area is colorful and varied, including the Texas Bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas.
Panning for gold at Natural Bridge Caverns, a tourist facility immediately north of San Antonio, always is an exciting activity.
Opposite page: The Texas Longhorn is symbolic of the toughness of San Antonians.
First Edition
Copyright © 2010 Historical Publishing Network
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing
from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-9790.
ISBN: 9781935377214
Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2010932369
San Antonio: City Exceptional
photography: Mark Langford
narrative: Joe Carroll Rust
cover design: Vanessa Lively
interior design: Glenda Tarazon Krouse
North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
chairman of the board: Howard Baker, Security Service Federal Credit Union
Historical Publishing Network
president: Ron Lammert
project managers: Bruce Barker
Wynn Buck
Joe Neely
Damar Santiago
Roger Smith
contributing writers for sharing the the heritage: Joe Goodpasture
Lou Guckien
Eileen Mattei
Brenda Thompson
administration: Donna M. Mata
Melissa Quinn
book sales: Dee Steidle
production: Colin Hart
Evelyn Hart
PRINTED IN CANADA
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
2

4 CHAPTER 1 Heritage
18 CHAPTER 2 Enterprise
32 CHAPTER 3 Civic Pride
46 CHAPTER 4 Special Places
62 CHAPTER 5 Special Faces
71 SAN ANTONIO PARTNERS
125 SPONSORS
126 ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
127 ABOUT THE WRITER
CONTENTS
3

chapter one
Above: Mission San Jose is known as
“the queen of missions.” It is famous for its
Rose Window.
Opposite page: Mission Concepción until
recently was listed as the oldest unrestored
stone church in the United States. It
currently is undergoing restoration.
It began with a small river, pouring out of a spring on the campus of the University of the
Incarnate Word, joining other waters and flowing at last into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Native Americans in the region called it Yanaguana, in English “refreshing waters.” The
Spaniards, on an expedition in 1691 from Mexico City into Texas in search of the Frenchman
La Salle and the fort he had founded in claiming land for France, arrived at the river and named it
the San Antonio, as it was the feast day of the Portuguese St. Anthony de Padua.
A great city grew up on the banks of the San Antonio River. That city now is the seventh largest
metropolis in the United States.
San Antonio, Texas, is an exceptional city in numerous ways, not the least of which is that her
glorious past is inextricably intertwined with not only her progressive present but also with her
shining future. San Antonio has an economically and culturally integrated society.
No example of how San Antonio has capitalized on the past to enhance today and tomorrow is
more evident than the development of that small river. In the 1920s, the San Antonio Conservation
Society began an effort to beautify the river in the downtown area. The effort paid off in the 1960s, when
the River Walk, with its shops and restaurants, was developed and the ambiance of the tiny river joined
the nearby Alamo to be a focal point of the more than 26 million tourists visiting San Antonio each year.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
4

Heritage
The river which had given the city its life
now became a commercial vehicle to give
it income. The story, however, was only at
its beginning. The river was destined for
even greater importance in carving out a new
San Antonio.
The determination of progressive city and
county leaders bore fruit shortly before
halfway through 2009, when a major portion
of the river from the River Walk to near the
river’s headwaters opened in a major new
development, the Museum Reach.
CHAPTER 1 - Heritage
5

The river section is so named because it
allows tourists and homefolk alike to traverse
the river by barge from the downtown
River Walk past the San Antonio Museum of
Art, itself a magnificent example of historic
adaptation of an abandoned brewery. Museum
Reach incorporates not only a Panama Canallike
lock to allow the travel of the barges, but
also a river grotto, fish mobiles dangling
below bridges and the excitement of the daily
migration of bats that find their home along
the river.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
6

Opposite page, clockwise from bottom, left:
Mission San Antonio de Valero, known as
the Alamo, the “cradle of Texas liberty,” is
in downtown San Antonio. The first Alamo
was built near San Pedro Springs in 1718,
but the current Alamo, the scene of the
famous battle of 1836, was not constructed
until 1744. The parapet, often used as the
symbol of the Alamo, was not added until
1849, by the United States Army. The
Alamo is one of five Spanish colonial
missions in San Antonio, with San Antonio
having more such missions than any other
city in the United States.
The Alamo Cenotaph, in front of the Alamo
on Alamo Plaza, is themed the Spirit of
Sacrifice. It was erected in 1939 by the
Texas Centennial Commission to honor the
heroes of the Alamo. The memorial was
designed by noted sculptor Pompeo Coppini.
In the background is the Emily
Morgan Hotel.
The Bexar County Courthouse in
downtown San Antonio is the largest and
most continuously used courthouse in Texas.
Above: This is one of the elegant Victorian
Age homes in the King William area, just
south of downtown San Antonio. King
William, initially carrying the name of the
German ruler Kaiser Wilhelm, was the
home of many of the city’s German
merchants of the late nineteenth century.
Left: One of the lobbies of the historic
Menger Hotel, in downtown San Antonio
across the sidestreet from the Alamo, might
have been the gathering place of one of
the city’s debutante coterie of yesteryear.
The hotel also houses the bar where Teddy
Roosevelt mustered the Rough Riders.
CHAPTER 1 - Heritage
7

SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
8

Museum Reach finds its end at the former
Pearl Brewery, another excellent example
of adaptive reuse into a gigantic complex
of shops, restaurants and markets. Redevelopment
of the river farther north into
the historic Brackenridge Park and to the
edge of the Witte Museum and all the way
to the headwaters and the University of the
Incarnate Word campus is restrained because
of the construction in the 1990s of a flood
control diversion tunnel of up to 144 feet
deep below the central business district. The
tunnel stretches from a park entrance near
the end of Museum Reach to another closed
brewery, Lone Star, at the southern edge of
downtown. That brewery also is to undergo
adaptive reuse. The famous Buckhorn Saloon
was moved from that brewery, home of
what was known as the “National Beer of
Texas,” to Houston Street, the city’s “main
drag” downtown.
In order for visitors and citizens to
maneuver along the banks of the river from
Museum Reach to the headwaters, hike and
bike trails are being built. The next phase
of the redevelopment of the river, Mission
Reach, already is underway. This river
makeover will incorporate access to four of
the five Spanish colonial missions in San
Antonio—Concepción, San Jose, San Juan
Capistrano and Espada (the fifth is the Alamo
in downtown San Antonio, the city which has
more Spanish colonial missions than any
other city in the United States).
Opposite page: The flower-laden Japanese
Tea Garden in Brackenridge Park recently
has been restored to its grandeur of the past,
showing off its shimmering pools. The
gardens are overlooked by an
Oriental pagoda.
Above: A proud peacock struts his stuff in
the Quadrangle of Fort Sam Houston, the
home of military medicine. The grounds of
the Quadrangle, whose tower once held
Apache chief Geronimo as captive, features
all sorts of wildlife.
Below: Youngsters marvel at a giant
tortoise, one of the residents of the San
Antonio Zoo, ranked as one of the nation’s
premier animal parks.
CHAPTER 1 - Heritage
9

Right: Trinity University, just north of
downtown San Antonio, is well-known for
both its educational excellence and its liftslab
architecture. It has Presbyterian ties.
Below: Our Lady of the Lake University,
one of San Antonio’s three Roman Catholic
universities, is operated in west San
Antonio under the tutelage of the Sisters
of Divine Providence. The school is noted
especially for its education prowess in
social work.
Opposite page, clockwise, starting from
the top:
This is the downtown campus of the
University at Texas of San Antonio. The
main campus is located in northwest San
Antonio. UTSA is one of the fastest-growing
segments of the University of Texas system.
St. Mary’s University, in west San Antonio,
is a university under the direction of the
Society of Mary. Its components include a
highly rated law school.
When completed, the new river redevelopment
will provide a stretch of river
access, either by barge or trail, for thirteen
miles. The redevelopment is a collaboration
of the city, the county, the U.S. Corps of
Engineers and the San Antonio River Authority.
Just a stone’s throw from the headwaters of
the river, in the San Antonio River Valley, is
evidence of another innovative use of history
to affect the present and future. There, in the
Olmos Basin, where hunter-gatherers set up
temporary camps 10,000 years ago, is Quarry
This is the library of Thomas Jefferson High
School in northwest San Antonio. When
built in the 1930s as a replica of Monticello,
the high school was touted as the most
beautiful in the nation.
The University of the Incarnate Word is
operated by the Sisters of Charity in north
San Antonio. The building in the foreground
is the Mother House of the sisters, with the
inset showing the angelic detail of its tower.
Incarnate Word especially is well-known for
its nursing school and is one of the fastestgrowing
small universities in the nation.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
10

CHAPTER 1 - Heritage
11

Market, a complex of nearly 75 shops and
restaurants constructed in a closed rock
quarry. Stone from that quarry, and cliffs
nearby, at the edge of the San Antonio Zoo,
was used for the construction of the Texas
state capitol in Austin and the Spanish
colonial missions in the southern section of
the city. The use of the smokestacks and
equipment from the old cement plant as
decoration for the new quarry complex
reminds shoppers of the days of yesteryear.
Also nearby, in yet another quarry, is the
Japanese Tea Garden, now renovated.
The use of material from the past to create
the future is almost a mathematical formula
for San Antonio.
The basin, now connecting two small
suburban cities surrounded by San Antonio,
is spanned by a flood control dam built in the
1920s after downtown San Antonio suffered a
major blow from floodwaters bursting forth
from the north.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
12

Opposite page, top: Artificial fish “swim”
below a bridge across the San Antonio River
just south of the San Antonio Museum of
Art just north of downtown San Antonio.
The fish are part of the arts project in the
new Museum Reach section of the
development of the river. Thousands of bats
also fly out from under this same bridge at
dusk each day, returning during the night.
Opposite page, bottom: The newly developed
Museum Reach section of the San Antonio
River Walk ends at the old Pearl Brewery,
now being renovated into a shops and
culinary institute complex.
Left: This is a restored bridge on the newly
developed Museum Reach section of the San
Antonio River.
Below: A river barge travels along the newly
developed Museum Reach section of the San
Antonio River below the San Antonio
Museum of Art.
The University of the Incarnate Word has
developed the land below the dam into a
sports complex.
Today, development in the basin is a
striking reminder of how San Antonio uses its
colorful past to give new and progressive hues
to its colorful days to come.
All over San Antonio, one sees how the
projects of the past have become fodder for
projects of the future—an auto dealership
property converted into condominiums, an
historic office structure and a former candy
company also developed into places of modern
dwellings, entire historic neighborhoods
upgraded to twenty-first century standards
with retention of the décor of the past, a
federal arsenal converted into the headquarters
of one of the largest grocery operations in
the Southwest.
CHAPTER 1 - Heritage
13

Top, left: Visitors on a river barge seem not
to notice other visitors enjoying Mexican
food at a restaurant on the River Walk in
downtown San Antonio.
Using the past to benefit the future is
an everyday occurrence in San Antonio. For,
you see, San Antonio is more than a place.
It is an attitude.
Top, right: Mariachis entertain on the
River Walk.
Right: The Alamo celebrates Christmas as
its plaza is the site of the annual huge Yule
tree sponsored by HEB, one of the nation’s
grocery chains headquartered in
San Antonio.
Opposite page: The River Walk is ablaze
with the lights of Christmas, including
diners watching from the restaurant atop
the Tower of the Americas. Yule lights are lit
on the river as the Holiday River Parade is
held the day after Thanksgiving.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
14

CHAPTER 1 - Heritage
15

chapter two
Right: A symbol of the long-standing good
feelings between San Antonio and the nation
of Mexico is “La Antorcha de la Amistad”
(the Torch of Friendship), a large piece
designed by renowned Mexican sculptor
Sebastián and presented to the Alamo City
by the Asociación de Empresarios
Mexicanos en San Antonio, the Mexican
consul general, the Instituto Cultural
Mexicano and other leaders of the Hispanic
community. It is at a major intersection in
downtown San Antonio.
Opposite page: This is one of the
spectacularly designed Sterling Banks, in far
north San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
16

San Antonio long has been considered one
of the bastions of history in the United States.
The city was the site of a Spanish presidio
in the early 1700s, the new home of Canary
Islanders who were among the founding
fathers of the city a few years later, a key
outpost for the Confederacy in the Civil War, a
defender of the frontier, the place where the
Mexican Revolution of 1910 was planned and
the location of an international fair, HemisFair,
in the twentieth century, bringing together all
the cultures which had made the city a mecca
for many nationalities.
Enterprise
CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
17

It was the center of a South Texas ranching
industry which drove cattle and shipped
beef East to provide meat for the Continental
Army and a leader in a massive agricultural
community which still retains some of the
noted family farms of the past.
Early in the city’s development, it became
a major tourist destination, given impetus by
the world’s fair.
It became a linchpin for the U.S. military,
for both land and air forces, as well as
military maintenance, and played a key role
in defense during World War II. It became the
home of military medicine, today even a
massively growing industry for the city.
In the past decade, San Antonio has found
even greater greatness in becoming a hub
for technology, especially in the field of
biomedicine. One in seven new jobs in
the city now has a direct connection to the
biomedical industry.
New technology has become so much the
new byword for San Antonio that—just as
the cry “Remember the Alamo” became a
motto for those driving the development of
the nation in “Manifest Destiny” a little more
than 150 years ago—the city is gaining a new
reputation as the Silicon Valley of the eastern
edge of the West.
With an added identity to match the city’s
prowess as a tourism and military mecca, the
coming decade will be the new golden age for
economic development in San Antonio. With
its newfound identity, San Antonio soon will
become a technopolis.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
18

Opposite page, top: This is the entrance to
HemisFair Park, the attraction which was
the site of the 1968 world’s fair, with the
Tower of the Americans peaking over
the top.
Opposite page, bottom: This is the main
offices of Frost Bank, a financial institution
founded by one of the city’s leading families,
in downtown San Antonio.
Left: The Northwest Center is a striking
14-story building at the intersection of Loop
410 and Interstate 10.
In 2008, a Pew Research Center survey
ranked San Antonio tenth among U.S. cities
where Americans want to live. Former San
Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, writing in
the San Antonio Express-News, said of this: “The
significance of this ranking for San Antonio is
that it suggests we are becoming increasingly
known as a city where talented, entrepreneurial
and talented professionals can make a good
life. Our complaint used to be that we couldn’t
keep our own best and brightest. Now we are
doing that.”
San Antonio has not only a young, readily
available and willingly trained workforce to
support the city’s daily growing service
economy, topped by the biosciences, but
also a growing populace of what Cisneros
calls the “creative class,” those among the
high salaried.
The new inpouring of the talented to be
melded with that of the home-grown means
San Antonio has a new vibrant and forwardlooking
population. Tourists and the men
and women of the military may come and go,
but those who have found a progressive new
home in San Antonio stay. That is a major
reason the Alamo City has become the
seventh largest city in the nation.
CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
19

Right: This Wells Fargo bank is on U.S. 281,
near the San Antonio Zoo.
Bottom, left: The Weston Centre is the second
tallest building in downtown San Antonio.
Bottom, right: This Amegy Bank is at Union
Square II near the San Antonio
International Airport.
Opposite page: With the Torch of Friendship
sculpture in the foreground, looking east
from the San Antonio River, one can see the
Rivercenter shopping center on the left, the
Marriott Rivercenter Hotel on the far left,
the Marriott River Walk Hotel in the far
center and the new Grand Hyatt Hotel on
the far right.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
20

CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
21

SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
22

San Antonio retains its glorious history,
but San Antonio has become much more than
the Alamo.
As a backdrop for the city’s new-found role
as a major center of the bioscience industry
employing nearly 125,000, with a payroll of
more than $16 billion, San Antonio has:
• The headquarters of five Fortune 500
companies, a large insurance conglomerate
which is the only fully integrated financial
services company in America; a gas
refining and retail company which is the
largest refiner in North America; a second
refiner and marketer of petroleum
products, which also is among the
nation’s largest refiners; a communications
giant in the radio and outdoor advertising
industries; and a major asphalt refiner
and owner of pipelines. Also, the city
is headquarters of a huge grocery
retailing operation, among the largest
in the American Southwest and
Northern Mexico.
• The University of Texas at San Antonio
Health Science Center, in the South Texas
Medical Center whichhas more than 45
medical institutions, has an annual operating
budget of $68 million and employs a faculty
and staff of 5,000 and has 3,000 students.
This operation is the education impetus for
the growth of the bioscience industry in San
Antonio, spurring collateral education
programs at area institutions of higher
education, including a curricula which is
making the University of Texas at San
Antonio, one of the fastest growing
institutions of higher learning in the nation,
a center for biomedical education.
• The headquarters of a construction firm
which not only has contracting operations
around the world, but also is a major
continuing presence in the building of
an expanded road network surrounding
San Antonio. In 2008 this firm had $1.6
billion in in-state revenue, more than any
other contractor in Texas.
Opposite page: The smokestacks of the
former Alamo Cement Company, a complex
which now is the Quarry shopping center,
dominate the landscape. The Quarry
Market is a prime example of adaptive
reuse of property, as it is in a former
rock quarry.
Above: A vendor sells his wares on the
River Walk.
CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
23

Right: Stinson Municipal Airport is the
second oldest general aviation airport in
continuous operation in the United States.
Below: San Antonio International Airport is
a major gateway to Mexico.
Opposite page: The interchange between
Interstate 10 and Loop 410 is one of the
major traffic connections in San Antonio.
Armed with pluses as those above,
San Antonio has been poised to get
the new words of the day—that almost
daily citizens awake from news in the
press that a new biomedical or other
service-related firm has opted to began
operations locally:
• The second largest manufacturer of medical
products in the United States will have
1,400 new jobs in its new diabetes therapy
management center in San Antonio. Already,
the Alamo City was the home of one of the
nation’s major manufacturers of hospital
beds and wound vacs.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
24

CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
25

year. While this airport is the international
air gateway to Mexico, San Antonio itself
also is the major road transportation path
not only to South Texas and the huge truck
farming industry of the Rio Grande Valley,
but also the highway gateway to our
neighboring nation stretching along the
southern border of Texas.
• There is the opening of a new state-of-the
art hospital in the Stoneoak area in far
north San Antonio and the announcement
that the county hospital district will build
a new huge hospital to supplement part
of the current University Hospital and to
replace some of that large complex.
Above: Medical Center Tower I is one of
more than 45 medical facilities in the South
Texas Medical Center.
Right: Research at the University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio
is paramount.
Opposite page, top: Expert medical care
with the latest in equipment is a hallmark in
San Antonio.
Opposite page, bottom: AirCare, the airlift
operation for the Methodist Hospital at the
South Texas Medical Center, is a model
of efficiency.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF METHODIST HOSPITAL.
• A major national market research firm
recognizes a medical instrument company
in San Antonio as one of the top emerging
medical companies in the nation. This firm
has a new form of noninvasive medical
diagnostic opto-accustic technology for
breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.
• One of the fastest-growing computer
hosting firms in the United States
announces a major move to take over
an abandoned mall and create 140,000
square feet of new office space housing
1,600 employees.
• San Antonio is recognized by the Brookings
Institution as one of the few major U.S. cities
outperforming a lagging national economy.
• There will be yet another expansion of San
Antonio International Airport, which is
serving more than 8.5 million passengers a
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
26

CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
27

Below: A worker at Cox Manufacturing
Company addresses a screw machine,
precision-turned product, the specialty of
his firm.
Opposite page: Woodlawn Lake is in the
foreground of this shot of the skyline of
San Antonio.
San Antonio’s physical growth is mainly
to the north, including the development
of large suburban communities and the
commercial development to match that
development. One of the major expansions in
the southern part of the city in recent
years has been the construction of the Toyota
large truck manufacturing facility and a
smaller truck component has just been
announced there.
The emergence of San Antonio as a
beacon in new technology, especially in the
biosciences, seems to be another case of growing
like Topsy, but it is part of planned economic
development which has included growing new
businesses, attracting new businesses to move
into the area and retaining existing businesses.
Among those teaming up in this threepronged
effort has been the San Antonio
Economic Development Foundation and the
San Antonio Technology Accelerator
Initiative (SATAI). The latter was
formed in 1999 after the city funded a
national study which earmarked
San Antonio as the future home of a
new technology revolution, especially
in biomedicine.
More than a small part of the growth
of the new technological savvy of San
Antonio has been the determination of
political leaders of recent years to
catapult the city into a new area of
progress, built on diversification of
both business and population.
Long before the city’s newfound
dedication to the biosciences was
found, San Antonio often made the
national news in new developments
at the Texas Research Park, at the
Southwest Research Institute and
at the Southwest Foundation for
Biomedical Research.
In the early part of the nineteenth
century, the note posted on the
doors of many failing businesses in
the Northeast was “Gone to Texas.”
Now, in the early part of the twentyfirst
century, the note has been revised
and expanded.
It reads:
“Gone to
San Antonio.”
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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CHAPTER 2 - Enterprise
29

chapter three
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
30
San Antonio is an exceptional city in numerous ways:
• Climatewise, she is a gentle lady, warm, sometimes even saucy, in the summer, cozy, sometimes
chilly, but seldom really cold, in the winter, giving her the reputation of the city “where the
sunshine spends the winter.”
• Geographically, she is well-situated in the south center of the United States, giving her easy
access to the Gulf Coast, Mexico and the gentility of the Old South, and the ruggedness of the
Southwest. This allows San Antonio the ability to claim a society which captures the best
qualities of the latter two regions. Is San Antonio a Southern city? Is San Antonio a Southwestern
city? The answer: Both.

• Culturally, she is quite cosmopolitan.
While 57 percent of the white population
of San Antonio is Hispanic, accompanied
by a rich culture which gives special
quality to the Alamo City, the white
population also includes large numbers of
descendants from a variety of European
nations, especially Germany, bringing the
city a tapestry of cultures, each with its
uniqueness. During the last half of the
nineteenth century, between the Texas
Civic Pride
Opposite page: Riders in the Battle of
Flowers Parade bring out the rodeo spirit.
Left: A couple performs a Mexican folk
dance, popular among nearly all
San Antonians.
CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
31

Revolution and a revolution in Mexico in
the early twentieth century, San Antonio
was a German, rather than Hispanic, city.
Many of the small towns around San
Antonio are German, Polish or Czech. A
thriving Chinese population was brought
to San Antonio by General John Pershing
in the early part of the twentieth century,
as they escaped Pancho Villa.
• Economically, San Antonio has had a
special knack in the early part of the
twenty-first century of escaping much of
the harsh depression faced by many other
major American cities.
• With all of San Antonio’s exceptional traits,
by far the most impressive are the people
themselves, and their special ways of
transforming the blessings of their
community into sincere civic pride.
While many major American cities have
relied on corporate power to generate
progress in their communities, everyday
San Antonians have taken on that task
themselves. Voluntarism in San Antonio is
not the exception; it is the rule. From the
largest of public galas to the smallest of
neighborhood gatherings, one will find the
commonality of volunteer help. That is
because San Antonians are caring—from
providing help to a poor family bury their
dead following a tragedy, to cooperatively
and peacefully integrating San Antonio
society fifty years ago.
Central to progress in San Antonio society
is the concept of familia, the belief that
nothing can be achieved without family
involvement. Families make up nearly 69
percent of the households in San Antonio,
and those families can be seen in every aspect
of community life in the city. Whether it is
a visit to San Antonio’s nationally honored
zoo or one of the city’s special museums, a
campout at Easter in Brackenridge Park, one
of San Antonio’s many parks, a trip to a public
swimming pool, taking in a movie or a play, or
enjoying a barge ride on the newly developed
San Antonio River extension, it is the family
which nearly always is the audience.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
32

No celebration perhaps more clearly
salutes the unity of family as the quinceanera,
the dedication of families to the young as a
young lady is honored on her fifteenth
birthday in coming of age in society. It is a
celebration which had its origin in the
Aztecan culture, adopted by Spanish
conquerors as they came to the New World.
Family also is omnipresent as San
Antonians celebrate the Fourth of July
with multiple community independence
parades. Moms and dads pushing baby
carriages in a neighborhood parade, with
the family pooch walking alongside, is the
order of the day, in a colorful and blatant
outpouring of civic pride in community
and nation.
San Antonians have great civic pride
in all their public facilities and they give
generously in support of them. San Antonio
even has The Fund, a special way in which
citizens can make collaborative financial
contributions to arts in the community, and
they give voluntarily.
Too, San Antonians readily have formed
nonprofit foundations to promote special
efforts for the community. Among the latest is
a foundation dedicated to the adaptation of
the Municipal Auditorium, built in 1926 as a
memorial to the veterans of World War I, into
a modern performing arts complex.
Also, the devotion of San Antonians to the
military once again is shown in the willingness
of citizens to dedicate private funds to a new
wound care center built for those young men
returning from wars in foreign lands, sacrificing
their bodies so that we might remain free.
Dedication to continued civil rights is
shown in civic pride by San Antonians each
January, when the nation’s largest freedom
march is held to honor the memory of
Martin Luther King. This becomes especially
poignant when one realizes that only slightly
more than 7 percent of the population is black.
Even though civic pride is exhibited in
just about every element of San Antonio life,
there are certain situations which call for
special mention:
Opposite page: Bulldogging is just one of
many events at the annual San Antonio
Stock Show and Rodeo.
Above: Patriotism is prevalent at the Stock
Show and Rodeo.
CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
33

Below: San Antonio’s annual Martin Luther
King march is the largest in the nation.
Opposite page: The annual Folklife Festival
in San Antonio is aflame with the
contributions of the nearly thirty cultures
making up the ambiance of the Lone
Star State.
• San Antonians are madly in love with the
San Antonio Spurs, a National Basketball
Association team which has won four league
championships and come close on several
others. Citizens of the Alamo City support
the Spurs not only financially, but have
shown their deep respect for the team in
orderly massive community celebrations
after each Spurs championship. The
community also has civic pride in the San
Antonio Rampage American Hockey League
team, the San Antonio Missions baseball
team, the Double-A Minor League affiliate
of the San Diego Padres which has won
11 league championships, the San Antonio
Silver Stars of the WNBA and two rugby
union teams, the Alamo City Rugby Football
Club and the San Antonio Rugby Football
Club. And, each December, San Antonio
hosts the NCAA football Alamo Bowl.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
35

• And, even though San Antonio has no
professional football team, San Antonians
uphold the tradition of football being sports
king in Texas by supporting numerous
trophy-winning high school, middle school
and elementary school football teams, even
more neighborhood “Y” football and soccer
teams and the football Tigers of Trinity
University. Added to that is the University
of Texas at San Antonio and the University
of the Incarnate Word, fielding their first
football teams this season.
• When groups interested in highlighting
the contributions of the many ethnic
groups that have developed Texas were
seeking a venue, it was logical that San
Antonio’s Institute of Texan Cultures,
which had been the Texas pavilion of
the 1968 world’s fair, would be selected.
Each summer, the Texas Folklife Festival
is held there, saluting nearly thirty
cultures which have built the Lone Star
State. San Antonians turn out in heavy
numbers to join the salute.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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Opposite page: Cascarones, emptied-out
eggs filled with confetti, are all the rage at
Night in Old San Antonio during the city’s
annual Fiesta.
Above and left: Friendly people, crowded
together in merriment, are a key ingredient
to the fun of Night in Old San Antonio
during Fiesta.
CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
37

• Each February, San Antonians celebrate the
ranching and agriculture heritage of the
area in the San Antonio Stock Show and
Rodeo, one of the largest such celebrations
in the nation. The event of nearly two
weeks not only testifies to the fascination of
the American cowboy, but also spotlights
the newest in cattle development and
provides an outlet for young people not
only to show their animals, but also to gain
scholarships. The annual show, which
brings strong corporate support from the
community, hosts 1.3 million visitors each
year and brings $25 million to the San
Antonio economy.
• Also cornering key corporate support from
more than 250 companies is the annual
Valero Texas Open, a PGA tournament
bringing in more than $8 million a year for
local charities.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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Opposite page, left: “Show us your shoes”
is a familiar crowd request to duchesses of
the Order of the Alamo as they ride on
their floats in the annual Battle of
Flowers Parade.
Opposite page, right: Even the gendarmes
get in the spirit at the annual Battle of
Flowers Parade.
Left: Pretty girls always are part of the
Battle of Flowers Parade.
CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
39

SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
40

• When all is said and done, no public event
more captures the sense of civic pride by
San Antonians than the granddaddy and
grandmother of them all, Fiesta San
Antonio. This annual 10-day celebration in
April commemorates the independence of
Texas and honors all heroes of the battles
of the Alamo and San Jacinto. It shows
how civic pride in San Antonio is melded
into recreation and good times, salutes
voluntarism at its highest level, pinpoints
the generosity, adventurous nature,
philanthropy, good humor, public
integration, patriotism and the spirit of the
land of merriment and make believe
among all San Antonians. Featuring
parades (one, the Battle of Flowers, is the
largest parade in the nation organized
wholly by women and another is the
nation’s leading river parade, where the
floats actually do, while another parade in
November heralds the beginning of the
Yule holidays), kings, queens, duchesses
and dukes and all sorts of special fairs and
colorful parties. Fiesta hosts 3.5 million of
the 27 million visitors who come to San
Antonio each year, and it puts a whopping
$280 million into the pockets of citizens
annually. In addition, two organizations
that sponsor Fiesta kings raise hundreds
of thousands of dollars each year for
children’s charities and scholarships.
It’s San Antonio, a city which retains its
small town atmosphere while supporting
exemplary pride with big town projects, ideas
and dreams, with a seventh in the nation
population of 1.350 million people. It’s not
paradise, but it’s pretty darn close to it.
Opposite page: Gird up your appetite for the
many varieties of Mexican food one can find
on almost every occasion, especially during
Fiesta, in San Antonio.
Below: The Texas Cavaliers’ River Parade
during Fiesta features floats which
actually do.
CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
41

SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
42

Opposite page: Tim Duncan, a forward for
the San Antonio Spurs, in a river parade,
shows off the 2005 National Basketball
Association championship trophy his team
won that year. The Spurs have been NBA
champs four times.
Top left insert: Spurs guard Manu Ginobili
is proud of his team’s NBA championship
trophy in a 2005 parade on the San
Antonio River.
Top right insert: The San Antonio Missions
are the city’s minor league baseball team.
Left: It’s a sunny afternoon on the links of
the Quarry Golf Club.
CHAPTER 3 - Civic Pride
43

chapter four
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
44

Special Places
Opposite page: This work of stylized aircraft
with exhaust trailing behind is the Missing
Man Monument at Randolph Air Force
Base, a few miles northeast of San Antonio.
The monument, paid for by the San Antonio
Chapter of the Red River Valley Fighter
Pilots Association, is a memorial to the
47,000 Americans lost in Southeast
Asian combat.
Left: The sailing is smooth on Canyon Lake,
about thirty miles northeast of
San Antonio.
There is an old story about a newspaper editor who asked his readers to suggest what might
be the ten least-maintained streets in town. One reader wrote in with this note: “Listing the ten
worst streets in our town would be like listing the ten hungriest people in India.”
That’s the same kind of dilemma just about any citizen of San Antonio would encounter in
listing the most special places in the Alamo City. There are so many special places in the city that
one would find difficulty narrowing down a list.
CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
45

So, related here are but several handfuls of
the most special places one might find in
living in or visiting San Antonio.
Always winners as special places are the
Spanish colonial missions and the River Walk,
along with the excitement of Six Flags Fiesta
Texas and SeaWorld. There are trips to the city’s
many colorful and unique shopping malls,
including the Quarry Market and The Rim,
which, like Quarry Market, is an adaptation of
a rock quarry into a shopping experience.
San Antonio has 26 officially recognized
museums, ranging from the Alamo to the
one dedicated to the contributions of
the wooden nickel. Museo Alameda, part of
the Smithsonian Institution, highlights the
special legacy of the Latin culture to America.
Hangar 9/Edward H. White Museum is the
oldest museum for the Air Force, while the
Fort Sam Houston Museum explains how that
military post gained the reputation for San
Antonio as the “mother-in-law of the Army.”
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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The McNay Art Museum is the oldest
museum of modern art in Texas, while the
San Antonio Art League Museum houses
some of the most-famous paintings of early
Texas. The Witte Museum spotlights the
frontier life of Texas and focuses on many
new scientific developments in the state.
The museum’s Science Treehouse is a favorite
place for visiting and hometown youngsters.
The Children’s Museum also draws large
crowds of curious young people. The San
Antonio Museum of Art is home to the
Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin
American Art, featuring one of the largest
Opposite page: The AT&T Center, in the
foreground, is the home of the San Antonio
Spurs. In the background left is the
Alamodome, former home of the Spurs, and
the Tower of the Americas is to the
background right.
Above: The Tower of the Americas is
highlighted by flags.
Below: The SeaWorld amusement park is
located at the western edge of San Antonio.
Pictured is the Lost Lagoon.
CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
47

Right: Trail riders come in for the San
Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Below: John T. Floore’s Country Store is a
favorite venue for country-western dancing,
a few miles west of San Antonio, at Helotes.
Opposite page: The Cornyval in Helotes
celebrates both civic pride and the historical
corn harvest. Helotes is a Spanish word for
green maize, or corn.
collections of Mexican folk art in the world.
The Old Trail Drivers Museum tells the story
of the legendary cattle drives from Texas to
Midwestern railheads.
The Alamo City has more than its share
of famous old moviehouses, many of them
restored to the golden era of the golden screen.
Visitors and citizens alike continue to look in
awe at the elaborate decors of the Majestic,
Aztec and Empire Theaters, for instance, with
the three now used as performing arts palaces
for such organizations as the San Antonio
Symphony. San Antonio long has had a love
affair with the silver screen, beginning with the
filming of “Wings,” the first motion picture to
win an Academy Award as the best picture of
the year, and the making of movies continues
to be a thriving art in the city.
Special places in San Antonio include
neighborhoods tracing the history of the city,
from La Villita, the original city, where the
soldiers of the Spanish garrison lived, to
the King William District, where the German
merchants of the nineteenth century
maintained their Victorian mansions (the area
initially carried the name of Wilhelm, the
German kaiser, but was Anglicized at the
outbreak of World War I), to Monte Vista,
where the cattle barons lived.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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Architecture in San Antonio takes many
turns, with the design of the Mexican
hacienda, especially in the décor of the city’s
more than 500 Mexican food restaurants, and
the Texas ranchhouse remaining perennial
favorites. Those decors are accentuated in
daily diets, with the enchilada, fajitas, chalupas,
tacos and the tortilla, along with Texas
barbecued brisket, often seen on the dining
room table. (San Antonio also claims to be the
hometown of chili, but discussion along that
line often creates conversation as hot as the
many Mexican hot sauces manufactured in
the city.)
CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
49

Right: This memorial honors the soldiers of
the war in Vietnam. It is in front of
Municipal Auditorium, in downtown
San Antonio.
Opposite page, clockwise, from the left top:
San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San
Antonio is the oldest building in Texas and
the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in
continuous use in the United States.
Schoolchildren exit the “red enchilada,” the
San Antonio Central Library. The bottom is
a side view of the building, a converted
department store.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
51

Religion finds numerous special places in
San Antonio. San Fernando Cathedral, initially
designated as the center of a city which was to
span out six miles in each direction from its
cupola, is the oldest cathedral of continuous
use in the United States. It faces onto a plaza
which is just one of many such plazas in
San Antonio, and that plaza also is shared by
the Bexar County Courthouse, the largest and
oldest courthouse of continuous use in Texas.
The city has three Roman Catholic institutions
of higher learning and many parochial schools.
(San Antonio also hosts a highly-ranked
Presbyterian university, is the only Texas city to
have branches of both of the state university
systems and has one of the most-noted junior
college systems in the nation.) The oldest
Protestant congregation in the city is First
Presbyterian Church, a downtown facility
which forms a partnership with St. Mark’s
Episcopal Church, which was the church of
Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the
marriage altar of President Lyndon Johnson
and his famous “Bird,” Lady Bird, and Travis
Park Methodist Church, the second oldest
Protestant sanctuary in the city. On the West
Side of the city is the Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Little Flower, with a claim as
the “most beautiful church in San Antonio.”
Above: Color is a major theme in Market
Square (El Mercado) in downtown San
Antonio, where shops of many trinkets rest
side by side.
Right: Everyone in San Antonio enjoys
merriment, year round.
Opposite page, top: The Little Church of
La Villita is a place of peace in the middle
of a busy city.
Opposite page, bottom: Tourists enter
La Villita, the original city, in downtown
San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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A recent religious addition, on the far North
Side, is a spectacular temple of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The military long has been part of the daily
lives of San Antonians, from the building of
the first Spanish presidio in the early part of
the eighteenth century to the current multimillion
dollar construction project which will
catapult Fort Sam Houston into the role as
the home of military medicine in the United
States. Fort Sam already is the home of the
most-famous burn unit in the nation, of a new
warrior center and a favorite tourist spot, the
Quadrangle, where deer today roam as free as
they did the day the Native American chief
Geronimo was held captive there. It also is the
headquarters of Army South. The nation’s first
military flight also took to the air at Fort Sam
a century ago. San Antonio also is the home of
Lackland Air Force Base, the Air Force’s basic
training facility; Randolph Air Force Base,
a keystone in pilot training and education
(which became well-known, along with San
Antonio’s Kelly Air Force Base, now privatized
as Port San Antonio, when such actors as
John Wayne, Robert Taylor and Van Johnson
starred in those multiple World War II films),
and Brooks City-Base, a current militarybusiness
partnership facility which was a key
element in the development of the manned
U.S. space program. Now, San Antonio also
will become home of the nation’s new cyber
security command.
CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
53

San Antonio is well-situated in a valley
carved out between the Texas Hill Country and
the Coastal Plains, edged by the Gulf of Mexico
on one side and Mexico on the other. That
makes it the headquarters for tourist visits to
many of the small German towns of the rolling
Hill Country and especially to wine making, a
new industry which has been stomped out of
the Texas economy in recent years. An official
wine tour loops out of San Antonio to many of
the small wineries of the Texas hills.
The Alamo City is home to many cultures.
The Hispanic culture not only is highlighted
in the people, song and the customs, but also
in facilities. Market Square in downtown San
Antonio, for instance, is the largest Mexican
market in the United States. But, San Antonio
also boasts of many other cultures, each with
its own special places and festivals—an
annual Asian Festival and a yearly Greek
Festival, for instance.
All of these many cultures and these many
special places make San Antonio not only a
fantastic place to do business and live, but also
a special place of make believe where civic
pride merges into recreational service, where
visits to historical spots and theme parks are
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
54

daily occurrences, and where one can see the
glories of the past in Sunset Station, a restored
rail facility out of which modern locomotives
now run. It also is a place where one can, on
one stretch of freeway, drive past, or right next
to, the strange architecture of the Alamodome,
the former home of the San Antonio Spurs and
the training facility for the Dallas Cowboys,
the AT&T Center, the current home of the
Spurs, and the Freeman Coliseum, the
centerpiece of the annual show and rodeo.
As one travels through, or near, all these
special places, it certainly will become
evident that the advice of many San
Antonians is “go north, young man.” With
general development of the Alamo City in all
geographic directions in recent years, the
move toward the top of the map continues to
be the most concentrated.
San Antonio has many parks of varying
sizes and more than twenty public and private
golf courses, all well-used.
Opposite page top: The Marion Koogler
McNay Art Museum, a former regal
residential estate in north San Antonio,
houses one of the nation’s most-impressive
collections of nineteenth and twentieth
century European and American artworks.
Opposite page bottom: Municipal
Auditorium in downtown San Antonio, built
to honor the heroes of World War I, is the
venue for many social and civic events.
Left: The ornate Majestic Theater in
downtown San Antonio, once a favorite
movie palace, now is a unique performing
arts theater.
CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
55

Clockwise, from left top:
The Rim is a three-million-square-foot retail
center nestled in a former rock quarry in
northwest San Antonio in an outstanding
example of redaptive reuse.
Concord Plaza, in north San Antonio near
the airport, houses a major stock brokerage,
a popular steakhouse and a major physical
workout center, among other businesses.
The Palladium is a 19-screen movie house
in the Rim, featuring the only community
IMAX screen in the nation. Six Flags Fiesta
Texas is across Interstate 10.
Opposite page: The gigantic cowboy boots
on the grounds of North Star Mall in north
San Antonio fit right in with the unique
flavor of the Alamo City.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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The most-spectacular move in this
area of community development
today, however, is what is
happening in one section
of far north San Antonio,
the creation of the new
36-hole, 2,800-acre TPC San
Antonio PGA tournament
golf course and its accompanying
Hill Country resort and
spa, the world’s largest such
facility for JW Marriott. Even
though this development is private,
it is a shining example of
the kind of gutsy progress now
so prevalent in a growing and
vibrant San Antonio.
CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
57

Right: The Taj Mahal at Randolph Air Force
Base, a few miles northeast of San Antonio,
houses the 902nd Mission Support Group
and the 12th Training Wing headquarters.
It is one of the United States Air Force’s
most-recognizable buildings.
Opposite page, clockwise from the left:
Recruits at the Air Force’s only basic
military training installation, at Lackland
Air Force Base in San Antonio, go through
their paces at boot camp.
Units of the Reserve Officers Training Corps
(ROTC) are featured in many San
Antonio schools.
Airshows are popular in San Antonio,
especially on Armed Forces Day weekend.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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CHAPTER 4 - Special Places
59

chapter five
Above: This youngster’s show animal has his
goat at the Junior Stock Show in
San Antonio.
Opposite page: San Antonians love to be in
a clownish mood all year around.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
60

If a visitor to San Antonio were asked to
list the most special faces associated with
San Antonio, the results might be varied.
The historian might suggest Davy
Crockett, William Barret Travis and/or Jim
Bowie, maybe even John Wayne, all relating
to the Battle of the Alamo. Or, perhaps Henry
Cisneros, the former San Antonio mayor who
was a presidential cabinet member.
The music, television and/or movie buff
may suggest Carol Burnett, Selena or Pedro
Gonzalez-Gonzalez.
The sports fan may evoke the name of
Tobin Rote or Tommy Nobis or Tim Duncan.
Special
Faces
CHAPTER 5 - Special Faces
61

SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
62

The businessman may call forth the name
of Ed Whitacre, the former head of AT&T
who was called out of retirement in an effort
to save General Motors.
Ask the average San Antonian to list the
special faces in her or his vocabulary, she or
he most likely would suggest the family next
door. That’s because the most special faces are
everyday citizens, working together for the
betterment of neighbor and the city.
Walk down any San Antonio street any day
of the week, or drive to a special place, or
just look at the house on the corner. You will
see the strength of a great city at work, its
people, at work or at play.
There may be a young couple kissing on a
park bench, an older couple holding hands
while strolling through the park, youngsters
playing soccer or football in a park or just in
a vacant lot. There may be a young adult
showing off a champion steer at the stock
show, the member of a high school sports
team in practice, fans attending a Spurs game,
a crowd coming out of a movie theater, the
brave exiting a roller coaster at a theme park,
a golfer teeing off on a local course, a teenager
texting his girl friend or a beautiful young
lady adorned in a colorful and twirling skirt,
riding a horse in the charreada.
Opposite page: Is love in the air as this
young couple strolls along the street in front
of the San Antonio Museum of Art?
Above: Another couple finds the Tower Life
Building in downtown San Antonio a
suitable background for their rendezvous.
Left: There are even special faces in the
Latin Wing of the San Antonio Museum
of Art.
CHAPTER 5 - Special Faces
63

SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
64

Opposite page: A youngster contemplates
his heritage at the Texas Folklife Festival in
San Antonio.
Clockwise, starting from the top:
Members of Fiesta royalty enjoy life during
the King William Fair parade.
Whose face is it behind that piñata?
A military man of past victories enjoys the
King William Fair parade.
During Fiesta in San Antonio, everyone is a
king. This young man rules his realm while
wearing Fiesta beads and a medal from the
Texas Cavaliers’ King Antonio.
CHAPTER 5 - Special Faces
65

In short, the special faces of San Antonio
are not those of the famous, but those of
the average homeowner or renter and her
or his family. People, that is what is making
San Antonio one of the fastest-growing cities
in America.
With the talent, determination and
farsightedness from those special faces, it
is not beyond imagination that within our
lifetime, San Antonio and Austin will be one
large metroplex, with such smaller towns as
New Braunfels, San Marcos, Buda and Kyle
as valued suburbs. Whatever does happen
in the tremendous growth of the region and
the state, however, one can be assured that
San Antonio will remain the exceptional city,
with its cosmopolitan attitudes and its history
and the use of it to benefit the future.
And then there are the people, each one of
them extraordinary in his or her own right.
Exceptional?
Yes, yes, and, yes.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
66

Opposite page, top: Music is a part of
everyday life in San Antonio, as exhibited
by these young mariachis.
Opposite page, bottom: Fancy horseback
riding is a favorite at the charreada, a
Mexican rodeo.
Left: Mexican folk dances are a delight in
San Antonio.
CHAPTER 5 - Special Faces
67

Above: Whether at running or passing, high
school football is a major pastime not only
among San Antonians, but also
among Texans.
Right: For the older folk—and some
youngsters, too—a round on the links at
one of San Antonio’s many golf courses is
a pleasure.
Opposite page: Ride ‘em Cowgirl!
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
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CHAPTER 5 - Special Faces
69

Not all special faces in San Antonio are
those of human beings. Animals and plants
get a glance, also.
Clockwise, from the bottom:
The armadillo is a strange creature.
The Texas Bluebonnet, the Texas state
flower, has a face of beauty.
Leaping lizards? Well, maybe not, but this
Texas spiney lizard has a look, too.
And, the jackrabbit always is a welcome
visitor. Coming to San Antonio?
Then, hop to it!
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
70

San Antonio Partners
Historic profiles of businesses, organizations, and
families that have contributed to the development
and economic base of San Antonio
Ariel Texas Star Inc.....................................................................72
Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse ..............................................75
ITEX in San Antonio ....................................................................76
Cox Manufacturing ......................................................................78
Hill Country Bakery.....................................................................80
Neuromuscular Pain and Nutrition Center LLC.................................82
North Star Mall ..........................................................................84
World’s Largest Cowboy Boots at North Star Mall .............................85
Our Lady of the Lake University ....................................................86
Quality Inn & Suites TM Bandera Pointe ............................................88
San Antonio River Authority..........................................................90
Texas A&M University-San Antonio................................................92
South Texas Blood & Tissue Center.................................................94
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio............96
North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce........................................98
Santikos Theatres ........................................................................99
CNG Engineering, PLLC..............................................................100
CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System............................................101
Elegant Furs .............................................................................102
Guillermo’s Deli & Catering ........................................................103
Greene and Associates, Inc. .........................................................104
Sabinal Group ...........................................................................105
Consultants in Women’s Health.....................................................106
The Orsatti Dental Group ...........................................................107
City of San Antonio–Development Services .....................................108
Bear Audio Visual, Inc................................................................109
LifeCare Hospitals of San Antonio ................................................110
Meson European Dining ..............................................................111
Mark Langford Photography.........................................................112
Southwest Research Institute ® (SwRI ® ) ...........................................113
SWBC ......................................................................................114
Timber Tech Texas, Inc. ..............................................................115
USAA Real Estate Company .........................................................116
The Westin La Cantera Resort......................................................117
Senator Judith Zaffirini ..............................................................118
The Towers on Park Lane ............................................................119
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo .................................................120
Texas Pride Barbeque .................................................................121
Trotter & Morton Facilities Services of Texas .................................122
The University of Texas at San Antonio .........................................123
Maureen Reeves Tarazon .............................................................124
San Antonio Partners
71

ARIEL TEXAS
STAR INC.
poured-in-place concrete techniques. Returning
to San Antonio in 1971, he launched what
became a series of rapidly growing companies
named after his wife, Orah, around which
current Ariel Texas Star Inc. would form
in 1994. Orah Wall Construction was a general
contracting company followed by Orah Wall
Investments which focused on real estate
and development.
✧
Clockwise, from top:
Energy Plaza and Petroleum Club, 1980. At
8618-8620 North New Braunfels Avenue,
these twin seven-story buildings totaling
168,000 square feet feature post-tensioned
cast-in-place concrete frames with concrete
spandrel panels separating bands of glass.
Efraim Abramoff, president, Ariel Texas
Star, Inc.
Edan Professional Building, 2008. Inspired
by Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs of the early
1900s, this two-story, 31,134-square-foot
building in a suburban setting at 15310
Huebner Road, features masonry exterior,
standing seam metal roof and a landmark
tower above the atrium entrance.
In 1967, Efraim Abramoff arrived in San
Antonio from Israel seeking opportunities in a
much larger world.
Four decades later, Efraim Abramoff’s
buildings have indelibly graced the city’s
landscape with numerous buildings including
some distinctive designs. There is more than one
million square feet of office space to his credit.
Driven by a desire to build, Abramoff
dreamed of becoming an architect. At thirty-five,
he came to America to pursue that dream. With
him, he brought experience acquired with
global Solel Boneh International, Ltd. (the
largest construction group in the Middle East at
the time) and an enviable knowledge of how to
build efficiently with creativity and innovation.
Upon completing studies at San Antonio
College in 1970, Abramoff participated in
a Mexican Government Housing Program
and for nine months trained and supervised
locals to build their own housing utilizing
Initially, the budding developer built
warehouses and did commercial remodeling.
He introduced a reusable forming system for
pouring concrete walls, which he compares
to “baking a layered cake.” With this castin-place
system, Abramoff was able to
competitively produce concrete warehouses
on a fast track to completion.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
72

The boyhood dream quickly grew teeth.
Abramoff’s construction business gained ground
parallel to his uncompromising commitment to
old-world integrity, contemporary design, and
pioneering spirit. By 1974, a mere three years
after he started, the general-contractor-turneddeveloper
was conceiving, owning, building and
managing projects across San Antonio.
A signature of Abramoff’s visionary brilliance
is Energy Plaza on which he commenced
development in 1980 with partner Sam Girgus.
It was one of San Antonio’s first multi-storied
suburban business centers of the 1980s. To
ensure the complex would attract geologists and
oil company executives, they purchased the
Petroleum Club name and installed a log library
and executive office suite in the Plaza Building.
What is more, the site for Energy Plaza near
the international airport allowed easy access by
world travelers associated with the oil industry.
Energy Plaza was cutting-edge then and remains
today a standing tribute to Abramoff’s reputation
for timeless development. Energy Plaza now
boasts of the most continually successful
Petroleum Club in the nation, which continues
to occupy the top floor of the Energy Building.
Notably, the developer’s instincts proved
repeatedly precise. In 1979, Abramoff had the
foresight to purchase the 168 acre Strauder
Nelson Estate along IH-10 West and Callaghan
Road. This acquisition initiated a rezoning plan,
Horizon Hill Subdivision, which accommodated
commercial/office, multi-family and residential
development while conforming to surrounding
neighborhoods and preserving antique oaks.
Most importantly, Horizon Hill filled a gap in
development along the IH 10 West corridor
outside loop 410.
On that sprawling acreage, Abramoff
commenced plans in 1985 for “Horizon View”
which he marketed overseas as “The European
Economic Community Center” to attract new
business and trade to the Alamo city. Abramoff’s
monument to San Antonio was then an unheard
of high-rise towering forty-two stories above
Callaghan Road in four columns and encasing
1.8 million square feet. But the market collapse
of 1986 reduced investors’ perception of his
masterpiece to a “grandiose plan.” Even so,
illustrations of it appeared in architectural
magazines around the world, so that today other
world-renowned buildings
emulate its design.
Not easily discouraged by
economic shifts, Abramoff
often turned to preserving
San Antonio’s rich architectural
heritage. In 1975 he
acquired the International
and Great Northern Railway
Depot built in 1907 west of
downtown—once a major
gateway to San Antonio.
He salvaged the property,
held it for nearly twelve
years, then sold it to San
Antonio Employees (renamed
Generations) Federal Credit
Union who renovated the
depot in 1986.
Another of Abramoff’s
rescues was the Hunter-
Knowlton Estate (former
1908 Knowlton Milk Farm
out Fredericksburg Road)
purchase in 1985 as part of
the Ashford Oaks Executive
Office Tower development.
He preserved much of the
natural terrain and enlarged
and renovated the homestead as San Antonio’s
prestigious, former Ariel House Dining Club.
In a bold departure from traditional
development also during the economic
upheaval of the 1980s, Abramoff again
diversified. He introduced Orah Wall Research
& Technologies Corp., opened offices in
Europe & Israel, and was promoting San
Antonio internationally to grow the City’s hightech
talent and facilities. M & S Imaging Center
in the Medical Center is but one stellar
example of this successful farsighted strategy.
From humble beginnings as general
contractor to multimillion dollar entity, the
group of Orah Wall companies at its peak
employed about 1,100 people; operated
multiple construction sites and managed and
leased its buildings and more than 1,550
apartment units. With its current standing as a
leading real estate investment, development and
construction firm in San Antonio, Ariel Texas
Star today remains a leading light in its industry.
✧
Top: Ashford Oaks Executive Office Tower
and Ariel House, 1985. At 8122 and 8118
Datapoint Drive, the 13-story, 219,000-
square-foot building with three below grade
parking levels features rooftop patios and
corner balconies in a concrete structural
frame clad in imported green granite and
reflective glass.
Above: International and Great Northern
Railway Depot. The former railway depot
constructed in 1907 on Medina at West
Houston Street in Cattlemen’s Square
features rose windows, a balconysurrounded
rotunda and dome-top copper
Indian statue.
San Antonio Partners
73

✧
Joshua Building. The twenty story, 300,000-
square-foot office building with shopping
arcade, featuring contemporary glass design
with a sweeping east wall topped by a
penthouse and clock tower reminiscent of
early New York high-rises, is planned for
construction at Loop 410 and Cherry Ridge.
If Ariel Texas Star has a slogan, it is “Take
risks but achieve the exceptional!” says
Abramoff, who “followed his gut” and still
does. “In the early years, San Antonio was
unknown compared to Houston or Dallas,” he
says. “Despite others’ caution and offers from
bigger cities, I stayed in San Antonio; put my
money, effort and time into the City. Now, San
Antonio is the seventh largest city in the
nation and recognized the world over. I like to
think I brought new insights and took
worthwhile risks.”
When dreams come true, Abramoff looks
up to find new ones. “I am an optimist; I must
create,” he says. “I don’t do it only to ‘succeed’
or ‘close a deal.’ I do it to leave a legacy to
future generations.”
Ariel (Hebrew for “lion of God”) Texas
Star unapologetically continues to create.
What the future may hold is the manifestation
of the European Economic Community
Center. Two additional designs are in the
offing. One is the Joshua Building, an
$80-million, 20-story, 300,000-square-foot
business center, including a 15,000-squarefoot,
top-story club and restaurant, planned
to grace high ground at Loop 410 and IH-10
West. The DOR (Hebrew for “generation”)
Building, is an $85-million, 15-story,
300,000-square-foot professional building
that also includes a penthouse club and
restaurant and is earmarked for construction
on IH-10 West along with the new generation
of development outside Loop 1604.
A vision made real by a boy from Israel, the
spirit and life blood of Ariel Texas Star is
Efraim Abramoff. Property Manager Simon
Abramoff, Construction Manager L. B. Feiner,
Real Estate Consultant Robert D. Adams, and
Administrative Assistant Kameron Yarbrough
complete the company’s core. Abramoff’s
nephews, Rami and Jeff Kotel, have assisted
with various projects over the years.
Represented by Abramoff, Ariel Texas Star
is designated an “Outstanding Member of the
North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.”
Ariel Texas Star Inc., is located in north
central San Antonio, Texas, at 40 Northeast
Loop 410 in Suite 415. Contact Abramoff by
telephone at (210) 344-1699, by email at
arieltexasstar@sbcglobal.net or through the
company’s website at www.arieltexasstar.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
74

Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse is far
from an ordinary restaurant. In fact, it is far
more than even an extraordinary restaurant.
It is an experience—a true taste of Southern
Brazil right in the suburbs of San Antonio.
After working in similar-style steakhouses
in both Brazil and the United States for more
than two decades, owner and president Joao
Ongaratto decided it was time to carve a niche
for himself. That niche turned out to be an
authentic Brazilian steakhouse that has not only
thrilled the taste buds of thousands since
opening in October 2008, but has also earned
rave reviews from customers and critics alike. Its
success has been so great, in fact, that it inspired
a second location in Chicago in November 2009.
According to General Manager Long Phu,
everything about Chama Gaucha has been
carefully designed, starting with its name. For
example, chama means flame in Portuguese
and is the very essence of the Brazilian
steakhouse. It also describes the great passion
that Brazilian Cowboys—or gauchos—have
for their culture and tradition. Brazilian
gauchos tend to large herds of cattle as they
roam through the vast plains of Southern
Brazil and, at the end of the day, gather
around the churrasco—the fire pit or grill—to
eat and share stories.
“It’s that authentic churrasco experience
that we strive to recreate,” says Phu. “From our
cascading waterfall to the charcoal grill, guests
are transported to the homeland of the gauchos.”
Upon arrival, a bountiful salad bar with a
host of fresh veggies and exotic cheeses greet
guests and proves the perfect compliment to
what really makes the restaurant unique–the
main course. Guests simply turn a card on
their table from red to green and chefs
outfitted in authentic gaucho attire arrive at
the table with skewers of fifteen different
succulent cuts of meat, all perfectly grilled
and seasoned. Guests are served tableside
until all appetites have been contented.
Chama Gaucha started out in October 2008
with just twenty-two employees, but today
has a combined payroll of more than 110
employees in San Antonio and Chicago. The
restaurants have been purposefully located in
populated suburban centers so as to target
local businesses and families. In 2009 the San
CHAMA GAUCHA BRAZILIAN STEAKHOUSE
Antonio restaurant not only earned the “Best
Steakhouse” Critic’s Choice Award from the
San Antonio-Express News, but was also named
one of the “Top Ten Best New Restaurants”
by San Antonio Magazine. San Antonio Express-
News’ Food critic Bonnie Walker gave the
restaurant the ultimate “Four-Star” rating in
December 2008, and Phu and others from
the restaurant appear frequently on KENS
Channel 5’s Great Day SA morning talk show
as the show’s proclaimed “Meat Specialists.”
For additional information on Chama
Gaucha, visit www.chamagaucha.com.
San Antonio Partners
75

ITEX IN
SAN ANTONIO
✧
Barron Perales.
Bartering—the mutual exchange of goods or
services—actually heralded the beginning of
business, thousands of years ago. A surplus of
apples could be traded for a stone ax. Today
bartering choices are more sophisticated and
provide greater choices for cashless transactions.
Bartering through ITEX helps businesses stay
competitive in a tough economy.
ITEX’s goal is to help members develop a
more successful business using ITEX as a
business tool. Barter dollars free up cash dollars
to run a business. Bartering creates new business
relationships and brings in new customers
through participation in the business-tobusiness
marketplace. As a nationwide bartering
community, ITEX Corp provides an
unparalleled networking opportunity with its
twenty-six thousand members. It also supplies a
proven way to grow a small business, as
members ‘sell’ their services, products, excess
capacity or inventory to each other.
ITEX in San Antonio, founded in 1995,
is a part of an established network of small
businesses trading for what they need. The
modern barter system does not involve direct
trade matches, but instead uses ITEX barter
dollars. The auto repair shop owner, for
example, whose bartered services are selected
by the owner of a furniture store or by an
orthodontist does not end up with a roomful
of sofas or a voucher for dental braces and
retainers. His repair work is translated into
ITEX dollars, which he can apply to get
whatever his business needs or what his
family wants from any other ITEX member.
ITEX, in fact, is the largest cashless
transaction network in the United States.
Its member businesses range from A to Z:
accommodations, advertising, computer
services, education, industrial, printing, retail
stores and veterinary supplies. ITEX handles
all the record keeping for transactions—the
ITEX dollars earned by selling goods or
services—so members do not have to track
details. The ITEX website lets members access
their accounts anytime, anywhere.
When the San Antonio ITEX franchise came
under new ownership in 2005, transactions for
local members rapidly increased to $2.3 million.
New owner Barron Perales, motivated by the art
of the deal, adopted bartering as a way of life
and developed customer service and customer
retention programs for ITEX in San Antonio.
Following a business plan that places greater
importance on quality rather than volume, he
prefers that ITEX in San Antonio under-promise
and over-deliver. In 2006, Perales, the youngest
broker in the ITEX system, was named Rookie
of the Year. The same year ITEX in San Antonio
handled $3 million in trades, a record for the
franchise. That achievement brought the San
Antonio operation the ITEX Circle of Excellence
Award. In recognition of his achievement in
building such a successful company, the
Minority Business Development Agency selected
Perales as a “Young Minority Entrepreneur,” one
of six in the nation.
By 2009, ITEX in San Antonio was
growing at an unprecedented rate with record
trades that totaled over $587,000 in one
month. The growth in ITEX trading,
nationwide and in Texas, is possible only
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
76

ecause ITEX helps its members grow their
own businesses. ITEX’s success directly
reflects the success of its bartering members,
who have become more competitive through
cashless transactions. Trade Directors at ITEX
in San Antonio assist members in locating
items that they want for their business,
from plumbing services to advertising. Trade
Directors become part of the member’s
sales forces, promoting the products and
services to new customers, online and
offline. Customer support includes assisting
members find the best place to spend the
barter dollars they have earned.
Most business owners agree that sales are
the toughest part of running a company. Even
with a great product, connecting with new
customers is time-consuming and expensive.
ITEX provides the opportunity to sell to
people who want to do business with a fellow
ITEX member.
The ITEX Membership Trading Community
is narrowly focused on small business owners.
New members who may have joined to move
excess product soon realize the power of the
distribution system that has been opened to
them. They discover that bartering creates
ongoing value. Others who have joined for
the marketplace access discover the friendly
community of bartering and fellowship.
ITEX’s networking and bartering reach far
beyond the San Antonio region to build
a broader customer base and options
for transactions. The ITEX website lists an
incredible range of potential exchanges and a
directory of all the businesses ready to barter
their goods for another’s services. The ITEX
Executive Privileges Program leverages the
group’s buying power to negotiate discounts
for its members. Keeping costs down enables
the small business community to stand on
level ground with Big Box stores and
international corporations.
As a concerned corporate citizen, ITEX in
San Antonio participates in bettering the
community, particularly through informing and
motivating tomorrow’s young entrepreneurs
and leaders.
A nationwide community of small business
has discovered the benefits of trading for what
they need rather than spending cash. Before
there was money, there was barter. Now
there is ITEX in San Antonio and a better
barter marketplace.
✧
Left to right: Xavier Hernandez, Jenni
Casias, Barron Perales, Melanie Balboa,
Blake Perales.
San Antonio Partners
77

COX
MANUFACTURING
✧
Above: William T. Cox, Sr., president
1956-1968.
Below: 1977 Management team (left to
right): Robert Flores, Bill Cox, Lillian Cox
(president 1968-1980), Simon Garces, and
Shep Kohler.
One could say that Bill Cox was born to run
a manufacturing company.
In fact, a letter his father, William Cox, Sr.,
wrote in 1956 projected that his new business,
Cox Manufacturing in San Antonio, would be
open on March 7. That turned out to be the day
that “Bill” Cox, Jr., was born into the family.
“Actually, I don’t know if the business
really opened that day,” Bill Cox said in a
recent interview. “But I do know the business
was born about that time.”
Though the company—today a manufacturer
of production machined precision turned
products and precision screw machine
products—was his father’s dream. Cox said it
was the hard work and dedication of both of his
parents that made it happen. They began with a
single Swiss-type automatic screw machine that
Cox, Sr., borrowed money to purchase at an
auction. At first it was just a parttime venture that
Cox, Sr., built from his vision to create a
manufacturing company that could supply
precision components that no shop down the
street could match. With that one Swiss screw
machine and an early opportunity to supply
critical micro components for a customer in the
burgeoning electronics industry, the company
was born.
“But, the business grew quickly and it
wasn’t long before my parents worked fulltime
in the business and employed people
running two shifts,” Cox reminisces. “The
company was producing a variety of Swiss
screw machine products and precision turned
products for not only the electronics industry
but also the auto industry.”
Two years into the business, however, the
demanding hours of starting a company took
its toll on Cox, Sr., and he had a heart attack.
Lillian, his wife and partner, helped Cox, Sr.,
make some major lifestyle changes that allowed
him to continue running the family business
for another ten years. A final massive heart
attack, though, did claim his life in 1968.
“Losing Dad was really tough, but Mom
stepped right into the leadership role of the
company,” Cox said, obviously proud of his
mother’s strength. “She could have easily sold
the company. In fact, shortly after my father’s
passing, one of our customers asked about
buying the business. I was only twelve at the
time, and mom asked me if I wanted to run
the business some day or should she sell. I
assured her I was interested in the business
and discouraged her from considering selling.
From that day forward I was groomed for my
future role and that very evening got my first
lesson on reading financial statements.”
Over the next decade Lillian Cox sat at the
company’s helm and earned the respect of
employees, customers, and suppliers. Her
business acumen and tenacity for prudent
management, intertwined with her ladylike
compassion established her own reputation
for perseverance, integrity, and excellence.
Bill Cox grew up in an environment
focused on customer service and fondly
recalls having to fill in for his mother and
even taking long-distance phone calls from
customers placing orders when he was still in
grade school. As soon as he was old enough to
work in the shop, he began learning about
precision measuring instruments and
machine tools. Like his dad, he had a gift for
mathematics and problem solving and took
engineering and technology classes in high
school and college to prepare him for his
future role. In 1980, at the age of twenty-four,
he officially became company president.
“With a natural love and aptitude for
manufacturing and machining, I soon became
immersed in process engineering and job
costing,” said Cox. “We expanded the
company into new technologies of multispindle
screw machines and programmable
bar automatics, and later, introduced CNC
technology. We went into many new markets
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
78

and were one of the first in our industry
to adopt Statistical Process Controls
or SPC.”
Today, Cox Manufacturing is not only
equipped with a vast array of state-of-theart
precision machines, but also staffed
with a highly skilled workforce. The
company machines a wide assortment of
precision products such as gears, fittings,
pins, shafts, threaded parts, specialty
nuts, and inserts using a broad spectrum
of materials from brass and aluminum to
exotic stainless steels, titanium, and even
some plastics.
“There is no doubt that our technology
is state-of-the-art.” Cox said. “But, while
leading edge technology is essential, it is
only a tool for achieving the same goal
we’ve pursued single-mindedly for the
past half century: to perform so reliably
that customers confidently choose us as
their preferred supplier.”
And, over the years, the company has, in
fact, established quite the track record of
producing parts where other companies have
failed. Few, says Cox, can match the company’s
capability of developing reliable processes that
are capable of delivering consistently exact
specifications in complex geometries offered in
a broad range of materials.
“It’s all about the customization,” he said.
“We work hard to learn each of our client’s
businesses and to help them by being a
reliable supplier they know will support
them in delivering what they need, when they
need it.”
Today, Cox Manufacturing Company’s ISO
certified plant supplies production machining
of precision turned products, Swiss screw
machine products, and multi-spindle screw
machine products to a broad range of
customers and industries. With customers in
Mexico and across the United States, thousands
of precision components are shipped from
San Antonio to fill the numerous repeat orders
for industries ranging from aerospace and
automotive to medical and electronics.
For more information on Cox Manufacturing
Company, contact us at 5500 North Loop 1604
East in San Antonio, Texas, 78247 or online at
www.coxmanufacturing.com.
✧
Above: Shown here is Bill Cox with some of
the precision components for applications
ranging from Aerospace and Automotive to
Medical and Electronics that are produced in
their highly automated three shift operation.
Below: The 27,000-square-foot
manufacturing facility located at 5500
North Loop 1604 East was built in 1980.
San Antonio Partners
79

HILL COUNTRY
BAKERY
By blending their skills, expertise and
talents, accomplished Chef David Nolan and
manufacturing veteran Steve O’Donnell have
cooked up one sweet company in San Antonio.
Established by the duo along with Lea
Crump in 1997 after meeting at an industry
trade show, Hill Country Bakery has come a
long way in its just over one dozen years.
In fact, by 2010 this frozen-to-thaw wholesale
bakery was customizing, developing and
manufacturing scrumptious freshly-baked
and frozen desserts for many of the top 100
restaurants and top thirty grocery chains
in the United States, not to mention the
U.S. Department of Defense and scores of
premium coffee houses, warehouse clubs, food
service companies, bakery distributors as
well as food exporters and
importers throughout the
United States and Canada.
The company’s workforce
of approximately 400
operates out of three stateof-the-art
plants located
in San Antonio as well as
support facilities including
storage warehouses and
an engineering-fabrication
building encompassing a
total of 220,000 square feet
of space. These facilities are
the development, production
and distribution sites
for more than 1.5 million
pounds of cake products
every week and over 225
million servings of dessert
every year. Delivery is
done exclusively by truck
to approximately 100
distribution centers in
the United States. Gross
revenues continue to top $150 million
every year and the company is in
the midst of executing a major
expansion plan. In fact, as the first
decade of 2000 ended, negotiations
were in full swing for the purchase of
another 100,000-square-foot property
to convert into manufacturing and
warehousing space.
When asked what has made their
operation so successful, Nolan and O’Donnell
point to just the right mixture of several
ingredients—a skilled and knowledgeable
workforce, an unyielding commitment to
customer service and customization, state-ofthe-art
technology, fresh ingredients and a
very successful fresh-to-frozen process.
“We are not and have never been a cookiecutter
operation,” Nolan says. “We’re not
running a product and selling it across the
country. Instead, our products are specifically
created and produced for our clients with the
flavors and profiles they want; cut and
packaged in the way they desire. It does not
matter if they are a small chain restaurant, a
large chain or an international company; we
strive to be partners with our clients. And we
work together to create products exclusive to
them; products that appeal to their clients.”
“We then take yet another step as our inhouse
fabrication team actually designs and
builds the equipment necessary to produce
these unique products in the necessary
quantities and at the most efficient price,”
adds O’Donnell. “We’ve spent much time
perfecting a freezing process that not only
traps in moisture and flavor, but that also
extends the shelf life of a typical battercake
up to a year or more. Our method of flash
freezing additionally keeps the company from
having to use preservatives.”
Service to its client partners—the term it
prefers to use for its customers—is yet
another one of the company’s crucial
ingredients and is the difference between
being just another vendor and being a great
partner. The company’s goal is to strive for
one hundred percent satisfaction through
quality and service—two areas in which it
consistently does quite well. In fact, out of the
225 million servings of dessert it serves every
year, customer complaints are well below the
industry average of just ten per one million
servings. The company’s facilities receive
consistently high inspection ratings, whether
it is an annual inspection by the city of
San Antonio or the State of Texas, and has
continually received the American Institute of
Baking’s highest Superior rating each year
since 2001.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
80

Even though their end products
are frozen, O’Donnell and Nolan
have always been sure that Hill
Country Bakery uses only the
freshest ingredients. Company
bakers, for example, use whole eggs
and shred fresh zucchini and
carrots on-site just hours before
they are baked into cakes.
Furthermore, most of the company’s
ingredients are ordered from
businesses from within the Lone Star
state. The company orders locally,
not just to ensure freshness and save
on distribution costs, but also to
support local businesses—an action
very important to this company so
steadfastly entwined into the fabrics
of both San Antonio and Texas.
The ties to San Antonio are so
strong that the company supports
many worthwhile community
activities. Nolan and O’Donnell
were two of the original supporters of the
Achievers School, a teaching organization
dedicated to educating children with special
needs. Each year the company donates cakes
free of charge to the school and it uses one
hundred percent of the money collected to
fund educational programs. The school
purchased their entire library this way and
this year raised $23,890 by the sale. Hill
Country Bakery routinely donates in kind
product to the Girl Scouts, youth groups and
is a longtime supporter of the MS Bike to the
Beach fundraiser as well as many others.
As for the future, in addition to continuing
to develop custom-manufactured bakery
items for client partners nationwide, the
company has positioned and prepped itself to
begin creating, producing and delivering its
client partners with products made with meat,
cheese and vegetables as well and is preparing
to roll out a new retail line of wholesome
bakery goods.
“We don’t see ourselves as a mid-sized
bakery anymore,” Nolan told Snack Food and
Wholesale Bakery Magazine after being named
the 2008 Intermediate Wholesale Baker of the
Year. “We have become a big manufacturing
player and are still growing.”
For more information on Hill Country
Bakery, visit www.hillcountrybakery.com.
San Antonio Partners
81

NEUROMUSCULAR
PAIN AND
NUTRITION
CENTER LLC
✧
Dr. Paul and Savitri Frizzell.
While touring with a rock and roll band,
Paul Frizzell was so seriously injured in a car
crash that doctors told him he would never
walk again. Determined to become mobile,
Frizzell discovered holistic medicine and the
rehabilitation therapy which enabled him to
walk and resume a normal life.
“They put me back together again, but a
surgeon at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio
doubted I would ever walk again,” Frizzell
explains. “He wanted to go in surgically and
re-break all the bones and wire them together,
but he doubted I’d be able to walk.”
Searching for some alternative to the grim
prognosis, Frizzell had his mother contact a
surgeon who was also a doctor of osteopathic
medicine. After examining Frizzell, the doctor
suggested a regimen of traction and holistic
medicine. “The doctor said if I could lift my leg,
I could learn to walk again,” Frizzell recalls.
“While I was in the hospital, I started
studying everything I could find on holistic
medicine because I was determined to get
myself back together,” he says. “I started
reading about Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates and all the
other nontraditional stuff that was out there. I
did all my rehab myself.”
That introduction to alternative medicine
started Frizzell on a lifelong journey of
research, study and service. He became a
Board-certified doctor of naturopathy and a
doctor of Oriental medicine. A Texas-licensed
acupuncturist, he holds a Ph.D. in nutritional
research and in biomechanics. He is also a
clinical nutritionist certified by the Linus
Pauling Institute.
“When I studied in school, I started seeing
that ayurvedic medicine is the oldest form of
medicine known on earth,” Frizzell explains.
“This is because it has a complete structure,
taking care of the spiritual, emotional, mental
and physical body. It treats all aspects of the
human body, and that’s a good definition of
holistic medicine.”
In 1981, Frizzell established the Neuromuscular
Pain and Nutrition Center LLC in
San Antonio. The Center provides integrated
health practices and nutritional treatments
that have been effective in resolving a wide
range of health problems. The Center offers
workshops for the public.
The field of massage therapies has long
absorbed Frizzell. From 1985 to 1991, he
served on the Texas Massage Therapy Board
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
82

where he was instrumental in having Massage
Therapy become a licensed profession in Texas.
As a certified Texas independent massage
therapy instructor, Frizzell founded the San
Antonio Institute of Neuromuscular Therapy
(MS #1011). The state approved massage
therapy school offers a five-hundred-hour
basic program as well as advanced training.
Twice a year, in February and August,
Neuromuscular Pain Center offers student
massages from graduating students.
Frizzell, a certified sports massage therapist,
has served on the National AMTA Sports
Massage Team and is again education director
of the Texas chapter after serving as president
for three terms. He is also certified in
therapeutic massage and bodywork (NCTMB).
Always open to innovations, Frizzell
continues to investigate and explore healing
therapies. Increasing his knowledge of holistic
procedures and treatments is an essential part
of his professional and personal philosophy.
“To stay alive and to stay healthy is a lot
of work,” Frizzell believes. “A lot of people
think good health is going to happen
naturally. But if you let everything happen
naturally, before too long you’re going to see
some abnormal tissue growing. If it goes
amok, it becomes anything from heart
disease or tuberculosis, to some kind
of cancer.”
Savitri Frizzell brought her broad
spectrum massage skills to Neuromuscular
Pain and Nutrition Center in 1995. She
studied massage therapy to help her
mother, who had been in constant pain
from a back injury.
Once Savitri graduated from the New
York Swedish Institute of Massage and
Allied Arts in 1977, she applied her
skills on her mother, whose rapid
recovery through massage validated
Savitri’s commitment. She went on to
become a certified yoga instructor and
receive certification in neuromuscular
massage therapy and therapeutic
massage and bodywork (NCTMB).
She earned a diploma as a certified
ayurvedic practitioner and developed a
bodywork style called ACE (Access
Correct to Eliminate Pain). ACE is
designed to structurally align one’s body in it’s
relationship to gravity.
Treatment techniques offered by Neuromuscular
Pain and Nutrition Center include
herbology, massage therapy, and ayurvedic
and naturopathic medicine. The Center’s areas
of expertise include cosmetic acupuncture,
fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders,
headaches/migraines, musculoskeletal disorders,
neurological disorders, nutrition, pain
management, sexual dysfunction, stress/
anxiety and others.
For occasions such as Valentine’s Day,
birthdays, Mother’s or Father’s Day, or
anniversaries, a gift certificate for any
of the therapeutic services offered by
Neuromuscular Pain and Nutrition Center is
a welcome gift for friends or family members.
For more information, contact the Center at
210-558-2112.
Healthy and rejuvenated clients continue
to refer their friends to the Neuromuscular
Pain Center, located at 8607 Wurzbach Road
in San Antonio. Its integrated health sessions
include nutritional suggestions and three
styles of acupuncture: Japanese, Korean, and
traditional Chinese. For more information visit
their website at www.frizzellwellness.com.
San Antonio Partners
83

NORTH STAR
MALL
✧
Top: Early North Star Mall signage off San
Pedro Avenue.
Above: Wolff & Marx, one of North Star’s
first anchor tenants, acquired by Joske’s
in 1965.
Bottom, left: Frost Brothers opening
day 1963.
Bottom, right: An aerial shot of North Star
taken in the early 1960s.
When it opened on September 23, 1960,
North Star was San Antonio’s first enclosed
mall and only the fourth such enterprise in
the country. Fifty years later, it is a study in
evolution. By incorporating changing social
mores and fashions, North Star continues to
operate as one of the most successful entities
of its kind against some powerful odds and
has mirrored its home city’s expansion.
Boasting 51 stores and 310,000 square feet
when it opened, the mall was developed by
The Rouse Company and was built at the
intersection of what was known at the time as
Loop 13 and San Pedro Avenue in San
Antonio’s relatively undeveloped north side.
The $14-million development featured bird
cages that reached heights of sixteen feet and
included among its original merchants
H-E-B Grocery, Wolff & Marx department
store, as well as Zales and Luby’s—the latter
two still remain occupants in the mall.
The concept of multiple stores housed in
one enclosed area was such a new one that the
ad which ran for the grand opening had to
explain: “You’ll walk from one wonderful store
to another on a completely air conditioned
street, amid tropical flowers, trees, and lovely
fountains, providing you with an atmosphere
that is forever springtime.”
More important than introducing this novel
form of shopping, North Star ushered in a new
era for San Antonio, impacting the city in some
significant but not so obvious ways. On
January 23, 1961, for example, Mexicana
Airlines announced new direct flights from San
Antonio to Mexico City as a direct result of the
mall. Two years later, a European delegation
visited specifically to determine whether the
mall concept could take off in Europe.
Not only has the mall withstood changes in
fashion, it has weathered severe economic
downturns and social turmoil. At North
Star’s twenty-fifth anniversary in 1985, the
changing times were illustrated when Mary
Alice Cisneros—wife of then-Mayor Henry
Cisneros—opened a time capsule that had
been buried at its grand opening. Among the
items, the capsule contained a copy of the
September 23, 1963 San Antonio News which
headline read, “Ike Hurls Dare at Nik,” referencing
former President Dwight D. Eisenhower
and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev.
In 1983 the mall became home to the
world’s largest pair of cowboy boots—a
sculpture by artist Bob Wade. Located on the
property’s north side adjacent to Loop 410,
the 40-foot-tall, 30-foot-long, and 10,000-
pound boots have become a must-see for
Alamo City visitors.
As the city has grown, so has North Star,
having expanded to nearly 1.3 million square
feet—more than four times larger than the
original structure. Currently, San Antonio’s
internationally acclaimed shopping destination
boasts more than 200 specialty stores and
eateries. North Star is located just five minutes
from the airport and twelve minutes from
downtown; most Airport Area hotels provide
courtesy shuttle service to the mall.
Such a history is testament to the city’s
continued love of fashion and shopping, of
course, but also to the shopping center’s
unique position as one of San Antonio’s
longstanding cultural icons.
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84

World’s Largest Cowboy Boots at North
Star symbolizes the universal interest in
Cowboy phenomena.
The adage that everything is bigger in Texas
was never better illustrated than with the
massive cowboy boot sculpture that adorns
North Star’s northern face. The “World’s Largest
Cowboy Boots” sculpture stands an impressive
40 feet tall, 30 feet long, 8 feet wide, and
weighs in at 10,000 pounds. According to the
sculpture’s creator, Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, each
boot could hold upwards of three hundred
thousand gallons of Lone Star beer, just in case
anyone was inclined to fill them.
Designed in 1979 for the Washington
Project for the Arts—a Washington, D.C. arts
initiative—the boots were created primarily
from donated materials. Steel skeletons were
covered with urethane foam that was textured
and painted to look like ostrich skin. Erected in
an empty lot near the White House, the boots
were bought in 1980 by North Star Mall’s thenowner,
The Rouse Company, for a cool $20,000.
Since that time, the boots have enjoyed a
rather colorful history. Moving the sculpture
from Washington, D.C. to the Alamo City
proved to be an adventure in itself. After getting
un-stuck from an overpass in D.C., the
enormous boots required three trailers and three
days to move. Once they arrived, a telescoping
crane was necessary to put them in place.
The infamous forty foot tall cowboy boots
at North Star have definitely kicked up a little
of dust over the years. It was rumored that in
the early 1970s Wade was asked to cement
over a hole in the heel of the left boot after a
vagrant created quite a stir when fire from a
can sterno stove sent smoke through the top
of the boot. In the eighties, the boots housed
a radio station that broadcast from the site
during the rodeo and served as a beacon for
trail riders making their way to the annual
Cowboy Breakfast.
Symbolizing the universal interest in
Cowboy phenomena, North Star’s Boots were
featured on “Good Morning America” and
are frequently showcased in international
advertising campaigns, books, and film. During
the Holidays, more than 3,000 twinkling white
lights set the grandiose boots aglow, helping
Santa find his way to San Antonio.
WORLD’S LARGEST COWBOY BOOTS
But, even a little more than thirty years in
the south Texas sun will wreak havoc on the
most durable of footwear and these boots
are no exception. In 2007 the sculpture’s
paint was flaking and fading, so NASA
stepped up and provided a sealant that was
applied to prevent further deterioration.
It has been estimated that more than
180,000 cars pass the sculpture daily, no
doubt reminding commuters not only
that bigger is better in Texas, but so is a
little humor.
AT NORTH STAR MALL
✧
Top, left: Artist Bob Wade and crew install
world famous boots.
Top, right: World’s Largest Cowboy Boots
under construction.
Bottom, left: North Star Cowboy Boots as
seen from Interstate Loop 410.
Bottom, right: More than three thousand
white lights adorn the Boots for the holidays.
San Antonio Partners
85

OUR LADY OF THE LAKE UNIVERSITY
Our Lady of the Lake University, founded
in 1895, is a coeducational liberal arts and
sciences institution offering pre-professional
and professional programs to its 2,700 students.
OLLU was founded by the Sisters of the
Congregation of Divine Providence, a religious
order with origins in eighteenth century
Lorraine, France. The order
still serves as the sponsoring
organization of the University.
Members of the Congregation
arrived in Texas in 1866 and
established a temporary home
in Austin before settling in
Castroville the following year.
Construction began at the
current site of the main campus
of OLLU in 1895. A year later,
educational programs were
underway. The first college
program began in 1911 as a
two-year curriculum for women.
In 1919 the curriculum was
expanded to four years and
the institution was admitted
to membership in the
Texas Association of Colleges.
Graduate studies began in 1942
and were coeducational from the
inception; all programs became
fully coeducational in 1969.
In 1975 the name of the institution was
changed from Our Lady of the Lake College to
Our Lady of the Lake University of San Antonio.
The University’s seventy-two acre main
campus is located at 411 Southwest Twenty-
Fourth Street in the heart of San Antonio,
providing students with ample opportunities
for learning, recreation, and growth.
OLLU works closely with each student and
family to keep private education affordable. As
a result, half of last fall’s entering class enrolled
with no out-of-pocket expense for tuition or
fees. The school offers scholarships specifically
for Catholic high school students. For instance,
all eligible Catholic high school graduates
receive the $8,000 Mother St. Andrew
Scholarship. For students with a record of
academic achievement and community service,
the OLLU Providence Scholarship is offered.
Each year, this full-ride scholarship is presented
to top applicants among the freshman class.
The University offers 33 bachelor’s degree
programs, 14 master’s degree programs, and
2 doctoral degree programs. OLLU features
quality programs in the arts and sciences,
business and M.B.A., computer information
systems and security, communication and
learning disorders, education, leadership
studies, psychology and social work.
OLLU has been named a First Tier of
Master’s Universities (West) in U.S. News &
World Report’s college rankings. In addition,
OLLU has been recognized as one of the
top twenty-five universities nationally for
promoting Hispanics in the fields of science,
math, and technology. OLLU was the only
Texas four-year university to win a grant from
the U.S. Department of Education’s Title V
program for Developing Hispanic-Serving
Institutions in 2010. The $2.4 million grant is
being used to upgrade science and math
facilities. In addition, its Cyber Security Center
has been designated as a National Center of
Academic Excellence in Information Assurance
Education by the National Security Agency
(NSA), one of only a small group of universities
nationwide with the NSA designation.
Courses are offered through weekend,
weekday, and online formats. OLLU created the
first weekend college for working professionals
in Texas in 1978.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
86

OLLU teams with community partners
to provide paid internship opportunities
with such companies as Citibank, State Farm,
Rackspace and the Westside Development
Corporation. These internships benefit
students by offering real-world experience,
paid stipends and a connection with area
businesses and non-profit organizations.
Service is deeply ingrained in the culture
of OLLU. The University maintains a
counseling center and a speech and hearing
clinic that serve the San Antonio community
while providing students valuable experience
working with real clients. For instance,
majors in social work and psychological
counseling provide services to the homeless
in San Antonio’s Haven for Hope. In addition,
OLLU’s Center for Service-Learning and
Volunteerism coordinates opportunities for
students to make a difference in the nearby
communities while gaining work experience
with area nonprofit organizations.
OLLU has the highest percentage Hispanic
undergraduate and graduate enrollment of
all U.S. Catholic Universities. With a student/
faculty ratio of 12:1, students at OLLU are
ensured an education with individual
attention and small classes. Dedicated faculty
members work closely with students as
mentors to guide them to success.
Undergraduate students can earn a degree
with dual-language certification that will
increase their marketability. Students
earning this certification develop
professional level proficiency in
Spanish in their major field of
study. This allows graduates to
work in both English and Spanishspeaking
settings.
OLLU is part of the National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
and fields nationally competitive
teams in men’s and women’s
basketball, cross country, golf, soccer,
and tennis and women’s volleyball and
softball as a member of the Red River
Athletic Conference.
The OLLU Campus Activities
Office sponsors events throughout
the year. Students are encouraged to
join campus organizations to foster
a well-rounded education by developing
leadership skills through out-of-theclassroom
involvement.
Campus Ministry serves the entire
University and offers Mass and prayer
services on campus as well as off-campus
retreats, providing students a forum for
spirituality, personal growth and bonding.
Our Lady of the Lake University is
accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools. For more information, or
to schedule a campus tour, call 800-436-6558
or visit the website at www.ollusa.edu.
San Antonio Partners
87

QUALITY
INN & SUITES TM
BANDERA POINTE
When they chose to fly the flag of Choice
Hotel International’s Quality Inn & Suites TM ,
Rakesh and Reena Patel were fully committed
to making sure their new property lived
up to its name by always offering quality
accommodations, amenities and service.
And since opening on June 20, 2006, the
Quality Inn & Suites TM Bandera Pointe has
done just that. In fact, the sixty-four room
property located at 9522 Brimhall in San
Antonio has been the recipient of numerous
awards, the most recent being the 2010
Gold Hotel Award and the 2010 Triple A
Diamond Rating.
“Our goal is to always
give great customer
service,” Rakesh said,
adding that he can
always count on his
property’s general manager,
Jay Patel, as well as
the Inn’s dozen employees
to exceed expectations.
“When we give
great customer service,
our customers become
repeat customers. There
is no greater measure of
success than that.”
In addition to quality
accommodations and service, the Quality Inn
& Suites TM Bandera Pointe is conveniently
located with easy access to many local
attractions and points of interest. The hotel is
five miles from Six Flags Fiesta Texas
amusement park—a two-hundred-acre park
featuring awesome rides, great shows, and
incredible attractions—and SeaWorld San
Antonio, the world’s largest marine life park.
The property is also just miles from the
historic Alamo, Trinity University
and the University of Texas at San
Antonio as well as a whole host of
corporations and businesses.
The nearby San Antonio River
Walk is one of the city’s most
popular destinations and features
numerous sidewalk eateries, pubs
and live entertainment. Boat tours
are available for a water-based tour
of the area. Nearby shopping is
easily accessible at The Shops at
La Cantera open-air marketplace,
featuring more than 150 shops and
restaurants throughout 1.3 million
square feet of space. In addition, a
variety of restaurants can be found
in the surrounding area.
Before and after an exciting day of
sightseeing or a busy day of meetings, guests
will enjoy many amenities and features at the
hotel—amenities such as a free hot breakfast
at the Q Corner Café, a Quality Inn exclusive
cafe divided into three stations: Hot, Fresh
and Healthy. Hot includes cooked meat,
choice of hot fresh eggs or fresh hot waffles;
while fresh includes freshly brewed regular
and decaffeinated coffee, tea, milk or juices;
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
88

and healthy includes cold
cereal, hot cereal, fresh fruit,
hard boiled eggs, yogurt,
pastries and non-sweet
breads. Sunday though
Thursday afternoons, the
Inn offers a happy hour
during which guests can
enjoy free hot dogs and two
complimentary beers or
glasses of wine.
Other complimentary
amenities include free coffee,
free wireless high-speed
Internet access, free local
calls, access to an invigorating
workout room and a beautiful outdoor
pool. There is also an outdoor gazebo on
property for those who want to enjoy an afternoon
or evening barbecue. A children’s play
area is available, and free cookies and
popcorn are offered every evening in the
hotel lobby.
Business travelers staying at the Quality
Inn & Suites TM Bandera Pointe will welcome
additional conveniences as well, such as
access to copy and fax services and tastefully
decorated guest rooms equipped with
refrigerators, microwaves, hair dryers, coffee
makers, irons, ironing boards, work desks
and ergonomic chairs. For those wanting a
little more room or for those with multiple
people in their parties, the one-room suites
have sofa sleepers and chairs and the onebedroom
suites have a separate living room.
For added guest convenience, laundry
facilities are located on the property. The
hotel is a 100 percent smoke-free hotel and
supports green practices.
But its guests are not the only ones to
which the Quality Inn & Suites TM Bandera
Pointe is committed. Like the Choice Hotel
Corporation it represents, the hotel fully
believes in being a good corporate citizen
in the communities where its owners,
managers, and employees live and work. It
serves as the host hotel for the Helotes
Cornyval Festival and has offered support
to many civic and nonprofit organizations
such as the Helotes Police Department and
the American Cancer Society.
“A great location, excellent amenities and
affordable rates make the Quality Inn &
Suites TM Bandera Pointe the perfect place to
stay on your next trip to San Antonio,” the
hotel’s website declares. “Like all Quality ®
hotels, we are committed to making you
feel understood, welcome, and important. If
you’re not satisfied with our accommodations
or service, all you have to do is let the front
desk know so we can make it right.”
For more information on Quality Inn &
Suites TM Bandera Pointe, call (210) 372-9900 or
visit online at www.qualityinn.com/hotel/txa56.
You may also make reservations by calling
toll-free 1-877-424-6423.
San Antonio Partners
89

SAN ANTONIO
RIVER
AUTHORITY
Since prehistoric times, the San Antonio
River has attracted human habitation.
Archaeological excavations have produced
evidence that the first human habitation along
the San Antonio River occurred as long as
10,000 years ago. The river was, and continues
to be, vital to the community, and it has long
been engineered to meet human needs.
The headwater of the San Antonio River is
a spring known as the Blue Hole located on
the University of the Incarnate Word campus.
This historic water source for the river only
flows when the Edwards Aquifer reaches 665
feet. The 240-mile-long river travels through
five counties before converging with the
Guadalupe River and emptying into the San
Antonio Bay.
During the 1920s, City Architect Robert H.
H. Hugman developed an architectural plan
that included preserving and enhancing
the natural beauty of the downtown portion
of the San Antonio River and river loop
area. Hugman’s plan required support
from both public and private interests. In
1938, downtown landowners passed a tax
referendum to improve the river. Later,
voters passed a bond issue and approved
city funding to secure a grant award. From
1939 through 1941, the pilot channel was
deepened, three dams were constructed,
underground drains built, and flood gates
installed at both ends of the river loop.
Around the same time, in 1937, the Texas
Legislature created the San Antonio River
Authority (SARA). The State of Texas
empowered SARA to preserve, protect and
manage the resources and environment of the
San Antonio River and its tributaries. SARA’s
district spans Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad
Counties, yet concern for the quality and
quantity of water extends SARA’s focus beyond
these boundaries, as factors outside the district
contribute to the health and well being of the
river and surrounding communities.
As a result of the flood of 1946, Bexar
County and SARA entered into a partnership
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)
to improve flood control along thirty-one miles
of the river and its tributaries. The San Antonio
Channel Improvements Project involved
realignment and channelization of the river
system and continues to provide an efficient
river channel that moves flood waters quickly
away from urbanized areas.
As part of this project, Bexar County and the
Corps funded construction of the San Antonio
River Tunnel. The tunnel carries floodwater
150 feet beneath downtown San Antonio and
releases it three miles downstream. The San
Antonio River Tunnel became operational in
1997 and was first tested during the October
1998 flood, preventing hundreds of millions of
dollars in damage. SARA served as the local
sponsor for the project and designed the
tunnel’s inlet and outlet park and water quality
enhancing aeration and recirculation systems.
The City of San Antonio currently operates and
maintains the tunnel.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
90

Today’s engineering technology offers
methods to restore the previously straightened
and channelized river to a more natural,
meandering condition while maintaining flood
control protection. The San Antonio River
Improvements Project (SARIP), a multiyear,
$384.5 million on-going investment, will
utilize these more environmentally sensitive
methods to restore thirteen miles of the
river channel from Brackenridge Park to
Mission Espada.
The project is funded by Bexar County’s
flood control tax and visitor’s tax, the City of
San Antonio, the Corps and the San Antonio
River Foundation. SARA is providing project
and technical management and is serving
as liaison among the partners—SARA will
also be responsible for the operations
and maintenance of the completed project.
A twenty-two member River Oversight
committee, created by Bexar County, the City
of San Antonio and SARA, provides a strong
citizens’ voice for the river, guiding design
and construction throughout the project’s
life. The Downtown Segment was completed
in 2002 and the Museum Reach Urban
Segment, north of downtown, was opened in
May 2009. Work is currently underway for
the Park, Eagleland and Mission Reach
Segments. The entire project is scheduled for
completion in 2013.
A new generation of flood management
emerged in this community in 2002 with
the creation of the Bexar Regional Watershed
Management (BRWM) partnership. This
partnership among Bexar County, the City
of San Antonio, SARA and twenty suburban
cities takes a holistic, regional approach to
managing flood control, storm water and
water quality. The program will establish
uniform design, operation and maintenance
standards; coordinate local, state and federal
funding; and provide an opportunity to
measure and evaluate the quality of service
delivered to citizens of Bexar County.
SARA headquarters are located at 100
East Guenther, San Antonio, Texas, and
the Environmental Center, which houses
SARA’s extensive Environmental Sciences
Department and a NELAC certified
laboratory facility is located at 600 East
Euclid. Interested citizens may call toll free
(866) 345-7272 or log on to the website
www.sara-tx.org and to learn more about the
BRWM, visit www.BexarFloodFacts.org.
San Antonio Partners
91

✧
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-SAN ANTONIO
Above: Texas A&M-University San Antonio
is set to become the second-largest campus
in the A&M System, with 25,000 students
by 2025.
Below: Texas A&M University-San Antonio
is the first upper-division university on San
Antonio’s South Side. It achieved stand-alone
status in May 2009 after nine years as a
system center of Texas A&M-Kingsville.
The hallways of San Antonio’s newest
institution of higher education are bustling
with students and faculty as Texas A&M
University-San Antonio establishes itself in
south San Antonio.
Under the leadership of inaugural
President Maria Hernandez Ferrier, A&M-San
Antonio grew from a system center of A&M-
Kingsville to a stand-alone university when
Governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 629 in
May 2009.
The community of San Antonio demonstrated
their enthusiasm and support during citywide
elections to choose the school colors and
mascot. Students began showing Jaguar pride
with the official university colors: silver, black
and “Madla” maroon. A central tradition in the
Texas A&M University System, the class ring
features the Lone Star of Texas, the Mission San
Jose Rose Window, and other symbols of San
Antonio and the university. For students of this
institution, many of whom are the first in their
family to attend college, the ring symbolizes
their momentous achievement.
The permanent campus is growing as
quickly as its student body. The first building,
slated to open in 2011, will set the tone for the
Spanish mission-style campus to be housed on
640-plus acres in San Antonio’s South Side.
Architect Kell Muñoz, whose background
includes many university buildings across San
Antonio and South Texas, and construction
management company Bartlett Cocke; have
laid out a dynamic, all-inclusive plan for the
campus, building to green standards with room
for community development. Future growth
will see the establishment of a Water Irrigation
and Technology Center, a Center for Agri-
Business Development, and state-of-the-art
facilities intended not only to provide valuable
resources for South Texas farmers, but new
generations of graduates schooled in the latest
techniques for sustainability—to name a few of
the proposed programs for the university.
Despite its rapid growth, A&M-San Antonio
plans to keep tuition rates low and budgetfriendly.
Many alumni credit their degrees with
the accessibility of admission, such as Sandra
Imery ’06.
“A&M-San Antonio provided me with an
affordable opportunity to finish school in an
adult learning environment. Otherwise, it
would have been difficult [for me]
financially,” she said. Imery now has a
successful career in community service.
Students can take classes from two
academic divisions: The Division of Business,
Arts & Sciences covers a variety of fields such
as criminology, sociology, and marketing, as
well as several business degrees that include
the highly regarded MBA. A bachelor of
applied arts and s ciences (BAAS) is also a
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
92

popular and flexible option for students.
The Division of Education & Kinesiology
offers several in-demand degrees at the
undergraduate and graduate level, and
features three tracks for teacher certification,
putting A&M-San Antonio on the map for
teacher preparation. The university has
developed an educational initiative working
closely with surrounding school districts and
community colleges to rewrite the educational
curriculum and implement a training program
to better prepare teachers for the realities
of today’s classrooms. Graduates are already
working in the classrooms of San Antonio
schools.. Jimmy Schwegmann (’09), began
teaching the same year he graduated from the
Alternative Certification Program.
“I took graduate classes concurrent [to
my undergraduate studies] to accelerate my
progress into the teaching profession as well
as doing my teaching observations, carrying
a full-time job and being a single parent
of a kindergartner,” Schwegmann said of his
experiences at A&M-San Antonio. “I have
been very thankful and grateful for the
support.” Schwegmann credits the flexibility
of classes, close ties with his professors,
and low tuition at A&M-San Antonio with
enabling him to graduate with high marks.
Recognizing the needs of transfer students,
A&M-San Antonio has built close ties with
the Alamo Colleges, San Antonio’s community
college system, to better serve students
wishing to complete their degree at an upperlevel
institution. In 2008, the institutions
came together to create TEAMSA, a
program designed to streamline the transfer
of credit between the institutions as
students work towards both an associate’s
degree at an Alamo College campus and a
bachelor’s degree at A&M-San Antonio.
TEAMSA offers both traditional transfers
from community college to the university
level as well as a co-enrollment option,
just one example of A&M-San Antonio’s
commitment to meeting the specific needs
of its community.
A&M-San Antonio is the dream of
the late Senator Frank Madla, who long
worked to bring an institution of higher
learning to the Alamo City’s South Side,
influencing students who may have thought
an academic degree was too far out of reach
by giving them opportunities of affordability
and accessibility. In the first two years of
A&M-San Antonio’s enrollment, three-fourths
of its students were the first in their families
to attend college.
“It is my dream to help bring a
Texas A&M University System
campus to the South Side of
San Antonio,” Madla once said,
“to provide all children an
opportunity to receive a quality
college education regardless of
where they live.” Less than three
years after Madla’s untimely death,
A&M-San Antonio was created
as a stand-alone institution of
higher learning. Dreams really do
become reality at Texas A&M-
San Antonio.
The university continues to
develop premier academic
programs with top-rate faculty,
low class size and an inclusive
campus atmosphere, producing
exemplary graduates dedicated to
serving their community. A&M-
San Antonio is set to become the second-largest
campus in the A&M System, with an enrollment
of 25,000 by 2025.
For more information, visit the campus
at 1450 Gillette Boulevard in San Antonio, Texas
78224 or online at www.tamuk.edu/SanAntonio.
The number to call is 210-932-6299.
✧
Left: A&M-San Antonio offers a variety of
undergraduate and graduate degrees,
including the MBA, BAAS and Alternative
Certification Programs for teachers.
Below: Inaugural President Maria
Hernandez Ferrier hands a student his
diploma during the Texas A&M University-
San Antonio Graduation ceremony. In the
first two years of A&M-San Antonio’s
enrollment, three-fourths of its students
were the first in their families to
attend college.
San Antonio Partners
93

SOUTH TEXAS
BLOOD &
TISSUE CENTER
✧
Above: In 1994, South Texas Blood &
Tissue Center moved into its current facility
on IH-10 West. A donor pavilion was added
in 2008.
Below: South Texas Regional Blood Bank
Board Members, 1986, at 318 McCullough
location. Back row: Don Beeler, David
Garrett, Oscar Abbott, Rick Donowho and
Jack Costello. Front: Robert Reed,
Chairman Cliff Jefferis, President Norman
Kalmin, and Bill Stone.
In 1970, several San Antonio hospitals were
operating their own blood banks, each
following different quality standards for testing
blood. The blood supply, which had been
erratic, dropped drastically in 1971 and 1972
when new federal laws restricted and then
prohibited blood centers from paying for blood.
The major hospital systems realized they
had a community-wide challenge that could
be best resolved by collaboration. In 1973,
three San Antonio physicians—Charles
Robinson, M.D, Robert F. Gossett, M.D., and
Michael H. Sulak M.D.—working with the
Bexar County Medical Society, became the
charter trustees of a new locally-owned and
locally-operated, not-for-profit blood bank,
South Texas Regional Blood Bank (STRBB).
“Everyone wanted an adequate supply of
quality blood at reasonable prices, generated
by a local reliable source. We needed a
universal blood bank that we could all depend
on,” recalled David Garrett, a charter member
of the board. Founding trustee Colonel Robert
Read, the administrator at Nix Memorial
Hospital, opened the first checking account
at Frost Bank for STRBB with a dollar
bill. Operating with twelve employees, two
centrifuges and a Winnebago for mobile
operations, the STRBB opened in January 1974
and was required to perform only two
screening tests: syphilis and Hepatitis B.
The first year the Bank drew approximately
25,000 units and tracked blood shipments by
sticking colored pins on a plywood board.
Blood was shipped to outlying communities
via Greyhound buses. Emergency deliveries
went in police-type cars.
In 1976 the STRBB moved into a building at
7078 San Pedro. A local auto dealer donated a
new “Bloodmobile” for mobile blood drives.
The service expanded to twenty-seven counties
and adopted a logo that reflected its life-giving
mission: intertwined double hearts. By 1984,
the STRBB’s donor base had grown steadily,
enabling it to receive and process fiftyeight
thousand units of blood.
The FDA-licensed HIV screening was
implemented in 1985 and STRBB started
providing donors with free cholesterol
screening. Dedicated to keeping the
blood supply as safe as possible,
STRBB incorporated new technologies
as they became available and began
irradiating blood components in 1990.
STRBB also opened a registry for the
National Marrow Donor Program
(NMDP) in 1991.
Three years later, the organization
underwent momentous changes.
Moving into a new facility on IH-10
West, it added a tissue bank and adopted a new
name, South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, to
reflect its newly expanded mission.
In 1996, STBTC became the first North
American Blood and Tissue Center to achieve
ISO 9000 Registration, a prestigious international
standards certification. That was followed
by other safety steps, including a new NAT lab
that separated plasma handling, pooling, assay
and post-amplification procedures.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
94

By 2001, South Texas Blood & Tissue
Center had registered the largest number of
Hispanics into the national registry, and over
sixty-four hundred potential donors had been
registered as potential bone marrow donors.
Under the name “Be the Match,” the NMDP
supports a system of transplanting stem cells
from unrelated donors to patients. By 2006,
the NMDP registry had grown to 120,000.
As a full service tissue bank, STBTC is
unique in its breadth of services provided to
patients, donor families and the community.
Tissue implants have been provided for over
fifty-three hundred patients.
In 2003 the Texas Legislature approved
funding for the collection of umbilical cord
blood. This resulted in the establishment of
the Texas Cord Blood Bank (TCCB), an
affiliate of the South Texas Blood & Tissue
Center. Umbilical cord blood is rich in the
undifferentiated cells that have proved useful
in the treatment of certain cancers and blood
disorders. Since 2003, TCBB has collected,
tested, and stored cord blood voluntarily
contributed by new mother-donors at twelve
participating Texas hospitals. With cord blood
representing Texas’ ethnically diverse
population, TCBB is aiding patients needing
transplantation while researching the optimal
uses of the resource.
In 2007, QualTex Laboratories was
established as a division of STBTC. The
independent, not-for-profit laboratory already
screens more than seven million blood and
plasma donor samples per year for infectious
diseases markers. With competitive turnaround
times, QualTex provides specialized
testing, along with secure handling of regulated
biological products.
The Blood & Tissue Center Foundation was
launched in 2002 to bring awareness of STBTC’s
contributions to the regional community and to
request contributions to continue its mission.
The Red & White Ball continues to raise funds
to support programs of the center.
South Texas Blood & Tissue Center now
has over seven hundred employees and
numerous volunteers and works closely with
regional hospitals, clinics and plasma centers.
It operates eight donor rooms: at the
headquarters on I-10, Southeast, Westover
Hills, Shavano Park, Methodist Healthcare
and Northeast in San Antonio as well as sites
in New Braunfels and Victoria. With the
cooperation of volunteers and staff, in 2008
STBTC collected 148,466 units of whole
blood and 27,700 units of platelets.
CEO/President and Medical Director of
the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center
Dr. Kalmin, states, “For the past thirty-five
years, the Center has developed relationships
with donors, customers, elected officials,
media and other supporters that have made
this lifesaving mission possible. As we have
grown and diversified, we continue to save
and enhance lives by providing the highest
quality biological derivatives and services
to local, regional and international patients
and customers.”
Additional information on South Texas
Blood & Tissue Center is available on the
Internet at www.southtexasblood.org.
✧
Above: Umbilical cord blood has been
processed at the Texas Cord Blood Bank
since 2003.
Left: The single van in 1976 has grown to a
fleet of highly sophisticated mobile blood
collection buses.
San Antonio Partners
95

THE UNIVERSITY
OF TEXAS
HEALTH SCIENCE
CENTER AT
SAN ANTONIO
San Antonio leaders sought a medical
school for many years before it became a
reality, with efforts intensifying after World
War II through authoring of legislation,
establishment of the San Antonio Medical
Foundation and acquisition of land for the
South Texas Medical Center.
In the 1950s, Dr. John Smith, Jr., led a
Bexar County Medical Society committee
that conducted a study showing San Antonio
was the largest city in America without a
medical school. Momentum for a school
crested in the fifty-sixth session of the Texas
Legislature, when House Bill 9 was passed
by both the House and Senate. Governor
Price Daniel signed the bill into law on April
29, 1959. Dr. Smith and Dr. James Hollers
were two of the leaders of the community
effort, and were present in the governor’s
office that day along with legislators and
other physicians.
Federal matching funds for construction of
the medical school were obtained by 1965.
The medical school’s first classes were held
September 3, 1968. With dental, nursing,
graduate biomedical sciences and health
professions schools added, The University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
was formed in 1972. It is one of six academic
health science centers and one of fifteen
institutions in The University of Texas
System. With an operating budget of $753
million, the Health Science Center is often
called the “crown jewel” of the South Texas
Medical Center as it is the chief catalyst for
the $16.3-billion biosciences and healthcare
sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health
Science Center, one of the country’s leading
health sciences universities, ranks in the top
two percent of all U.S. institutions receiving
federal funding and has expanded into two
million square feet of education, research,
treatment, and administrative facilities across
six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo,
Harlingen, and Edinburg.
The five schools of the Health Science
Center—the School of Medicine, Graduate
School of Biomedical Sciences, Dental School,
School of Nursing and School of Health
Professions—award more than seventy
health-related degree specialties and pre- and
post-baccalaureate certificate programs. The
Health Science Center is deeply proud of its
more than twenty-seven thousand
graduates—physicians, dentists, nurses,
scientists, and other health professionals—
many of whom serve in Texas. Its faculty
members are international leaders in cancer,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke
prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics,
research imaging, transplant surgery,
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain
management, genetics, nursing, dentistry,
infectious diseases and many other fields.
The purpose of The University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio is to
provide the best in health careers education,
biomedical research, patient care and
community service to San Antonio and the
South Texas/Border Region. Through
undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate
programs, the faculty is committed to
educating health professionals who will
provide excellent patient care and research
that can be applied to treat and prevent
disease. The interdisciplinary coordination of
research and patient care is regarded as one of
the university’s great strengths.
The Health Science Center is the recipient
of more than $250 million annually in
research and other sponsored program activity.
Some of the innovations that have received
U.S. FDA approval with the university’s help
include the world-famous Palmaz Stent, to
open both peripheral and coronary arteries;
the Titanium Rib, to save children born with
lung-limiting chest wall deformities; and the
EZ-IO, to administer medications via the
bone marrow cavity when traditional IV lines
cannot be established.
Other outstanding accomplishments are
demonstrated through excellence in:
• Cancer research, with the Cancer Therapy
& Research Center at the UT Health Science
Center, the Greehey Children’s Cancer
Research Institute and other collaborative
cancer research and clinical initiatives.
• Aging research, with the Sam and
Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and
Aging Studies praised by the National
Institute on Aging as among “The Best in
the Nation.”
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
96

• Cardiovascular research, highlighted by the
Janey Briscoe Center of Excellence in
Cardiovascular Research. Major studies of all
aspects of cardiovascular health are ongoing.
• Diabetes research, with the worldrenowned
Texas Diabetes Institute, the
largest research-treatment facility in the
nation devoted solely to diabetes in
children and adults.
• Organ transplantation, demonstrated
through the University Transplant Center,
one of the nation’s foremost programs in
liver transplantation and other organs,
particularly the lungs.
Medical miracles of tomorrow, in some of
the most exciting areas of clinical and scientific
study, will be pursued at the Health
Science Center using innovative technologies
such as:
• Regenerative medicine: Engineering new
body tissue for curing diseases such as
cancer, diabetes, arthritis, congestive heart
failure, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s
disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
• Nanomedicine: Inventing small synthetic
biologic devices that offer the hope of
miraculous, mechanical therapies and
cures such as monitoring heart plaque formation,
blood pressure within arteries,
tumor recurrence in cancer patients and
blood glucose levels of diabetic patients.
• Bioinformatics: Supporting research and
clinical programs with high-performance
computational solutions and approaches
that integrate clinical research, medicine,
and population data toward enhancing
research processes, patient care, and community
health.
• Proteomics: Using mass spectrometry, a
powerful analytical tool, to learn minute
details about proteins that will help scientists
better explain basic biomedical processes,
understand disease progression, and determine
the effectiveness of new therapies.
• Genomics: Studying an organism’s genome
to detail patterns of gene expression in
health and disease, define the genetic basis
of inherited disease, and determine how
the environment, microbes and lifestyle
interact with health outcomes to shape
future medical treatments.
• Biomedical imaging: Viewing inside the
human body at the sub-cellular level to
understand biological processes, such as
how the brain works and the progression
of tumor development or diseased cells,
with a three-dimensional clarity for discovery
of potential cures and preventions.
UT Health Science Center School of
Medicine faculty members treat patients
through UT Medicine San Antonio, South
Texas’ largest multispecialty practice. In 2009
the Health Science Center opened the
250,000-square-foot Medical Arts & Research
Center (MARC) for state-of-the-art patient care
under UT Medicine San Antonio. The Cancer
Therapy & Research Center (CTRC)–formerly
a nonprofit, multidisciplinary outpatient clinic
and research center–aligned with the School of
Medicine in December 2007 and is now part
of the UT Health Science Center.
The Health Science Center serves San
Antonio and the fifty-three-thousand-squaremile
area of South Texas. The South Texas
practice area covers thirty-nine counties—
most of which are underserved by health professionals—that
stretch west from San
Antonio to the border, and south to Mexico.
The Health Science Center has affiliation
agreements and partnerships with dozens of
hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers
including the University Health System; the
South Texas Veterans Health Care System;
CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health Care; and many
other military and community facilities
throughout South Texas and the Rio Grande
Valley. Each year UT Medicine San Antonio, the
practice plan of the Health Science Center’s
School of Medicine, contributes more than
$100 million in uncompensated healthcare to
the uninsured and underinsured.
Through programs that advance education,
clinical care, research and community service,
the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
is fulfilling the needs of the citizens of Texas,
the nation and the world toward one simple,
yet powerful goal—to make lives better.
The University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio is located at 7703 Floyd
Curl Drive, San Antonio, 78229-3900. For
more information, please visit www.uthscsa.edu
or call 210-567-7000.
San Antonio Partners
97

NORTH SAN
ANTONIO
CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
As Texas’ top destination, San Antonio is a
culturally-rich and vibrant metropolitan area
with a demonstrated ability to thrive in just
about any economic climate. The city is a
choice location for many of the country’s and
region’s most successful public and private
companies. For those who live, work and play
here—we know why San Antonio is the envy
of the nation. And for more than thirty-five
years, the North San Antonio Chamber of
Commerce has supported our citizens and
enterprising business community.
Founded in 1974, the North Chamber had
the foresight to anticipate San Antonio’s
future growth beyond downtown, and we
have continued to play a major role in
shaping and defining solutions for urban and
quality of life issues including transportation
infrastructure, water quality and supply,
energy diversification, economic and workforce
development, health and wellness,
technology and education.
Today, the North Chamber has earned a
reputation as one of the state’s most dynamic
and inclusive trade organizations. Resolute
in our efforts to advocate for business
and education, recognize deserving leaders
and provide professional development—we
deliver opportunities to make resultsoriented
business-to-business connections.
Representing more than fourteen hundred
member businesses from every quadrant of
the city and encompassing a range of industries
from healthcare and biotechnology to
energy and telecommunications, the North
Chamber is a powerful partnership between
small and large businesses. We are a commanding
collective voice in advocacy at the
local, state and national levels.
No other local chamber does more than we
do to honor leaders at every age and career
stage. We salute regional legends for their
wide-reaching philanthropic endeavors and
public service, and recognize area small
business leaders in multiple categories from
employee relations to business innovation.
In partnership with the national ATHENA
Foundation, we are the exclusive local host
organization for the presentation of awards
that credit rising stars, seasoned professionals
and model organizations for achievement,
community service and leadership cultivation.
Moreover, the North Chamber delivers
superlative educational programming on a
variety of industry- and content-specific
topics to keep our workforce on the cutting
edge of specialized skills and best practices.
In fact, the Texas Chamber of Commerce
Executives named our Leadership Lab training
series the “Best New Program of the Year”
in 1999, and ever since, more than
seventy professionals complete the
nine-month program annually.
The North Chamber has left an
indelible mark on San Antonio with
our culture of entrepreneurialism and
cooperation. Through our 501 (c) (3)
entity, Lead SA, we provide financial
assistance to member small businesses
and nonprofit organizations seeking
career development via North Chamber
programs, and we have awarded
thousands of scholarship dollars to
area colleges and universities to
advance higher education.
In the twenty-first century and
beyond, the North Chamber keeps
San Antonio strong and strives to be
the chamber of choice for businesses
in San Antonio and Bexar County.
Join us today, and expect success.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
98

SANTIKOS
THEATRES
Greek entrepreneur Louis Santikos could not
have known that when he founded a movie
theatre in San Antonio in 1915, he was
launching an entertainment legacy in Texas.
More than ninety years later, the Santikos name
is synonymous with the movie industry. From
humble beginnings to the celebrated opening of
its $35-million Palladium IMAX Theatre built in
honor of the family’s Greek heritage, the
Santikos family has earned a reputation as
pioneers in the motion picture industry.
Following in his father’s footsteps, John
Santikos joined the family movie business after
graduating from St. Mary’s University. Under his
leadership the company expanded considerably,
adding eight new theatres to the Santikos roster,
including the firm’s first theatre built outside of
San Antonio, the Silverado IMAX in Houston.
John remains at the helm of the business today,
heading up the largest family-owned theatre
circuit in Texas.
Over the years, Santikos Theatres has
established a well-deserved reputation for
bringing the “latest and greatest” in cinema
technology to San Antonio. From the first drivein
theatres and multiplex indoor theatres, to
THX and digital sound technology, Santikos
Theatres leads the way in innovation. More
recent additions include 3D presentation,
Hollywood IMAX films, HD digital projection,
in-theatre dining and the city’s only art-house.
Santikos Theatre patrons enjoy Red
Carpet premiers and exclusive showings
of concerts and special attractions.
John, an active arts supporter, believes
in community service. His company
partners with arts organizations, including
the San Antonio Symphony, the San
Antonio Opera and the San Antonio
Metropolitan Ballet. Thanks to Santikos,
patrons enjoy Opera broadcasts from the
top European opera houses in the
comfort of their local Santikos Theatre.
Known for its work with many charitable
organizations, Santikos Theatres offers canned
food drives for the local food bank, helps
with Red Cross donations and encourages
patrons to support fundraisers for
many nonprofit organizations.
In addition to supporting the arts,
Santikos Theatres contributes to the
local economy, employing over one
thousand workers ranging from theater
ushers to managers and corporate
employees. Known for being responsive,
the Santikos company is always
among the first businesses to help
when there is a need in the community.
Today, the Santikos Theatre circuit
includes eight theatres: the Palladium
IMAX, Silverado San Antonio, Mayan
Palace, Embassy, Rialto Cinema Bar &
Grill, Bijou at Crossroads, Northwest
14, all in San Antonio, and Silverado
19 IMAX in Northwest Houston.
Santikos remains the only locallyowned
and operated theatre circuit in
South Texas, and proudly continues
its tradition of customer service,
community relations and superior
cinematic presentation.
Additional information on Santikos
Theatres is available on the Internet at
www.santikos.com.
San Antonio Partners
99

CNG
ENGINEERING,
PLLC
✧
Above: Travis E. Wiltshire, P. E.
The Main Plaza San Antonio, five Alamo
Community College District campuses, and
the Central Plant at San Antonio Military
Medical Command North, address different
sectors of the city’s economy, but they have
one thing in common. The functional brains
of these facilities—the mechanical, electrical,
and/or plumbing systems that keep each of
these complexes operating—were designed
by CNG Engineering, PLLC.
CNG’s application of its motto, Attention
to Detail, has enabled the company to win a
reputation for bringing in $1 million to $300
million projects on time and within budget.
CNG Engineering’s teams take the vision
behind an architect’s renderings and create
the reality of complex mechanical, electrical,
and plumbing (MEP) plans. They determine
precisely how a building will be ventilated,
illuminated, powered and plumbed for new
construction, expansion, or renovation.
In the process of bringing designs to life,
CNG engineering professionals call on their
experience working on retail and office
complexes, educational and government
facilities. They develop clear, concise, and
complete information for architects as well
as contractors. San Antonio’s revamped Main
Plaza has become a public gathering space.
Underneath the landscaped plaza is the CNG
designed plumbing that makes the fountains
operate and its electrical designs that control
the light and sound systems.
CNG’s engineer and designers bring more
than their technical expertise to each project.
They build strong relationships and maintain
open communication with both clients and
contractors from site investigations through
the design stage to construction.
Travis E. Wiltshire, P. E., established CNG in
2004 to bring a professional problem-solving
approach to MEP projects. His grandfathers
in Guyana, South America, had run businesses,
and he inherited their entrepreneurial spirit.
After graduating from Penn State with a B. S.
in electrical engineering, he worked with
engineering firms in New York City, Pittsburgh,
and San Antonio. In San Antonio everything
began to fall into place, and with divine
guidance, he opened CNG Engineering, which
is named after his children, Caiya and Gavin.
Wiltshire, who has in-depth expertise
in power distribution and uninterruptible
power systems, is a graduate of Leadership
San Antonio and the African-
American Leadership Institute of
San Antonio.
CNG is committed to developing
the next generation of MEP
engineers and designers and
actively recruits high school and
college interns. Wiltshire serves
on the board of ACE (Architecture,
Construction, Engineering), which
mentors students from select San
Antonio high schools. The group
stimulates students’ interest in
architecture, construction, and
engineering through regular
mentoring sessions and a final
ACE project presentation. CNG
encourages its employees to work
with elementary to high school
students on engineering projects,
such as coaching robotics teams,
with the Junior Chapter of the
National Society of Black Engineers
San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
100

CHRISTUS
SANTA ROSA
HEALTH SYSTEM
Established in 1869 by the Sisters of
Charity of the Incarnate Word as San Antonio’s
only nonprofit, Catholic faith-based health
system, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa has served
generations of South Texans and continues to
touch countless lives by extending the healing
ministry of Jesus Christ.
During its humble beginnings, CHRISTUS
Santa Rosa was a single, two-story stone hospital
erected downtown through community efforts
involving citizens and the Archdiocese.
It is now a system offering five hospitals that
collectively feature more than 1,000 beds
throughout San Antonio and New Braunfels.
The City Centre campus houses a 400-plus
bed acute care facility with a Level III Trauma
Center; an 8,000-square-foot emergency department;
physician office buildings, an imaging
center, and the David Christopher Goldsbury
Center for Children and Families. Within the
City Centre campus is CHRSITUS Santa Rosa
Children’s Hospital. Celebrating its fiftieth year
in 2009, this 150-bed hospital was the first
hospital in South Texas designed and built for
children and through its longstanding partnership
with the University of Texas Health Science
Center, is San Antonio’s only academic children’s
hospital. The Children’s Hospital offers cancer,
cardiac, and solid organ transplantation programs.
It is the founding hospital of the titanium
rib procedure, and in 2004 established The
Center for Miracles, an assessment center for
suspected victims of child abuse or neglect.
In 1986, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa opened a
hospital in the South Texas Medical Center.
This facility includes 178 beds, an Ambulatory
Surgical Center, the CHRISTUS Transplant
Institute, the Diabetes and Glandular Disease
Clinic, as well as the Wound Care & Hyperbaric
Center, an emergency department and Center
for Robotic Surgery. In the fall of 2008 a
partnership was established with the Cancer
Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) that
would provide CTRC’s patients with access to
inpatient services at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa
Hospital–Medical Center, creating a comprehensive,
multidisciplinary continuum of cancer care
from diagnosis to treatment and follow up care.
That same year, CHRISTUS acquired McKenna
Memorial Hospital in New Braunfels. For more
than fifty years, this 132-bed hospital has met
the healthcare needs of New Braunfels and
surrounding communities by providing such
services as outpatient surgery, imaging, rehabilitation,
a cardiac catheterization lab, birthing
center, diabetes education, and emergency care.
The most recent expansion includes a fullservice
hospital in San Antonio’s fast-growing
community of Westover Hills, built in 2009.
Situated on Highway 151 near SeaWorld, it is a
150-bed, 315,000-square-foot facility featuring
such services as an emergency department;
comprehensive women’s services including
obstetrics and newborn care; inpatient and
outpatient surgery; family medicine; and critical
care. Adjacent to the hospital is a three-story
medical office building that
houses a variety of physician
practices and hospital services.
CHRISTUS Santa Rosa is
one of only two hospitals in
Texas and the only one in
San Antonio to receive the
Distinguished Hospital Award
for Clinical Excellence six
years in a row and to be named
one of “America’s 50 Best
Hospitals” by HealthGrades ® .
For more information, visit
www.christussantarosa.org.
✧
Above: CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital–
City Centre was established in 1869 by the
Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
It is a four-hundred-bed facility located in
downtown San Antonio.
Below: CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital—
Westover Hills is the newest addition to the
CHRISTUS Santa Rosa system of hospitals.
Opened in 2009, it is located at Highway
151, between Wiseman and Westover
Hills Boulevard.
San Antonio Partners
101

✧
ELEGANT FURS
Gerardo Zavala.
In the 1960s in Laredo, young Gerardo
Zavala loved going after school to his uncle’s
fur sewing plant where he attached pockets
in garments. By the time he was a teenager,
he was cutting furs. At fourteen, he convinced
his mother to let him go for a semester to
Alaska and a relative’s Anchorage Fur Factory.
Zavala stayed in Alaska for seventeen years,
working part-time and then full time in
the fur industry, including ten years with
noted furrier David Green. There he designed
and custom-made luxurious fur garments,
including many for celebrities. Larry Hagman’s
timber wolf coat and Willie Nelson’s buffalo
coat were among his creations.
In 1985, Gerardo Zavala came to San
Antonio as the protégé of Michael Mouratidis.
Mouratidis’ international reputation for couture
design and his renowned salon proved the
ideal setting for Zavala to perfect his design
skills. Mouratidis considered his employees as
his family. When Mouratidis died and the
company was closing, Zavala decided to fulfill
his own dream.He founded Elegant Furs LLC
at 8305 Broadway in June 2005 with the
advice from Helen Noumas, a coworker of
Mouratidis who had fifty years of fur business
experience. Four years later in 2009, Elegant
Furs was relocated when Zavala purchased the
Ram Building at 4434 Blanco Road.
Today while designing exquisite fur garments
for an appreciative clientele, Zavala considers
San Antonio’s climate and individual preferences.
He creates elegant garments using light weight,
short-haired skins. “When I design for the next
season, I look for what a lady will love to
wear. If you have a garment you like, you are
going to find ways and occasions to wear it,”
says Zavala.
Mink, long an appreciated and enduring
fur, is capturing more admirers as advanced
techniques of shearing, dyeing and laser
cutting open new design possibilities. Flower
patterns and logos can be cut into natural and
dyed furs.
Elegant Furs is known for adeptly
transforming beautiful but outdated long
coats into contemporary garments. Customers
who bring long, seldom-worn fur coats to
Elegant Furs for storage are likely to be
advised by Zavala to let him restyle them
into a one-of-a-kind garment. Their options
include a fur vest, reversible stroller, or a
jacket, whatever catches their fancy.
Elegant Furs has the largest climatecontrolled,
fireproof fur cold storage vault
in San Antonio. The experts’ clean, repair and
care for all fur, leather and suede garments.
In addition to exceptional fur garments
and accessories to delight men and women,
Elegant Furs also offers home decorative
accessories such as sumptuous fur pillows,
throws and spreads.
Enthralled by furs since childhood, Gerardo
Zavala is committed to absolute client satisfaction.
He is pleased to share his love of furs.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
102

Guillermo’s Eat Here has become one of
San Antonio’s most popular restaurants
because the owner, William Garza, truly
enjoys serving people with delicious food.
The restaurant’s Mission Statement sums up
Garza’s approach in a few simple words: “To
efficiently serve people by creating and selling
exceptional food using the finest products in
a sanitary environment where value for our
staff, customers, and creativity is boundless.”
Customers all agree that the food served at
Guillermo’s is delicious, but the exceptional
service is what keeps them coming back.
“I am in the restaurant business because I
enjoy serving people,” Garza explains. “We
strive hard every day to find better ways to
serve our customers.”
Although his name is William, most people
know Garza as Billy or Guillermo, a nickname
bestowed on him by a college friend. He
started in the restaurant business at the age
of twelve working at Luca Pizzas in Windsor
Park Mall. He graduated from Central
Catholic Marianist High School in 1989 and
worked his way through the University of
Texas at San Antonio, earning a degree in
Accounting. He founded Guillermo’s in 1995
after graduating from college. “I liked serving
food and felt I was good at it,” he says.
Located in a distinctive, tin-roofed
building at 618 McCullough Street, not far
from Museum Reach Riverwalk, Guillermo’s
Eat Here offers pitas, pizza, burgers, calzones,
pasta, steak and a wide variety of other
menu items. The restaurant also operates a
busy catering service and Garza has plans to
open an additional catering kitchen to expand
that operation.
Guillermo’s Eat Here has ten employees,
including Tony Don, Jr., who has been with
the restaurant for twelve years.
Garza’s business philosophy is grounded in
a deep belief that he was meant to serve
people. “I believe in fulfilling what I was
meant to be,” he says. “The more people we
can serve, the closer we get to attaining our
goals. To be successful, there has to be
meaning in what you do. If your only goal is
chasing the almighty dollar, you won’t
find fulfillment. But if you serve others,
the money and happiness will follow.”
Garza, who is interested in pursuing
an MBA degree at UTSA, adds that he
understands his responsibility for his
community and embraces the challenges and
needs of that community.
For more information about Guillermo’s
Eat Here, including the lunch and
dinner menus, please check the website at
www.guillermosdowntown.com.
GUILLERMO’S
DELI &
✧
Below: William Garza.
CATERING
San Antonio Partners
103

GREENE AND
ASSOCIATES,
INC.
✧
Above: Barbara A. F. Greene.
Below: Barbara A. F. Greene being honored
by the Texas Diversity Council, 2009.
Partners in a construction company desperately
needed to work out their differences
so that they could become better leaders and
continue building a successful company.
Greene and Associates, Inc. helped them
do just that.
A high-tech company needed help navigating
through a major facility closure and preparing
its employees for the career transition.
Greene and Associates, Inc. not only
prepared the employees, but motivated them,
allowing the company to enjoy an unexpected
$20-million increase in revenues due to
extraordinary efforts by those departing.
A research organization needed someone
to help one of their emerging leaders develop
interpersonal skills.
“The change,” a top executive at that
organization said, “was dynamic.”
These are just a few of the success stories of
Greene and Associates, Inc., an organizational
resilience company established by Barbara
A. F. Greene in 1996.
Headquartered in San Antonio and
partnered with Career Partners International,
an organization comprised of more than 160
leading human resource partner firms in over
twenty countries, Greene and her diverse
team of professionals provides a complete
range of talent management services to
include attracting, developing, retaining, and
transitioning the pulse of an organization—its
workforce. They perform everything from
executive coaching and career transitioning
to corporate mentoring and leadership
development services for organizations of
all sizes across the globe. They are always
client-centered.
“We are definitely not a cookie-cutter
company,” says Greene. “We specialize in
offering solid, creative, and custom solutions at
every level in every size of organization—from
small businesses to universities to Fortune 500
companies and from the executive suites to the
shop floor. Our goal is to provide whatever
services our clients need through completely
customized and flexible approaches.”
Greene, who is both owner and chief executive
officer of the company, holds a master’s
degree in counseling, a bachelor’s in education
and is recognized as a master certified
coach by the International Coach Federation.
She is a published author, having co-authored
the Texas Job Hunter’s Guide, and has received
numerous recognitions including the National
Association of Women Business Owners’
Entrepreneurial Spirit Award as Mentor of
the Year, the San Antonio Business Journal’s
Mentoring Leadership Enterprise
Award and the 2009 DiversityFIRST TM
Leadership Award from the Texas
Diversity Council. She also holds two
of the highest chapter awards from
the San Antonio Chapter of American
Society for Training and Development
and was a finalist for the 2007
Athena Award.
In addition to leading her company,
Greene also believes in giving back.
To that end, she has held numerous
leadership roles such as president
of the San Antonio Chapter of
American Society for Training and
Development and the San Antonio
Chapter of the National Association of
Women Business Owners. She serves
on the Advisory Council for the San
Antonio Light House for the Blind and
hosts international students through
Trinity University.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
104

With more than forty years of electrical,
architectural and general contracting
experience in their tool bags, Mark Wohlfarth
and Danny Benavidez—founders of the
Sabinal Group—continue to build a solid
business and a growing list of satisfied clients
in the San Antonio area.
A highly skilled general contracting firm,
the Sabinal Group was founded in 2005 to
better serve the area’s real estate and end user
community through professional minority
general contracting services. From the
beginning, they have committed themselves
to doing “whatever it takes” to get the job
done. They have also committed to giving
their all to every job, no matter the size.
“Whether our clients want us to paint a
wall or build a new corporate headquarters,
we will do it with professionalism, quality
and guaranteed satisfaction,” Wohlfarth and
Benavidez proclaim. “We do not chase
projects, but instead are committed to
providing quality service, which results in
life-long client relationships.”
Because of their expertise, professionalism
and unyielding client commitment, a whopping
eighty-five percent of their clients are repeat
clients. Their portfolio is tremendously diverse
and includes a myriad of projects throughout
the area—projects that range in size from the
1,000-square-foot AT&T Conference Center
to the 40,000-square-foot Museo Alameda,
a community Museum and affiliate to the
Smithsonian. Other recognizable projects
include the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum,
Tezel Plaza, Five Star Retail, The Palms Retail
and numerous medical office buildings, just to
name a few.
The firm offers a full menu of general
contracting services—such as project
management, scheduling, estimating, cost
control, material procurement, code
compliance, permitting and evaluations,
quality control and warranty management—
as well as complete design, building,
accounting and administration services.
Co-founder Wohlfarth holds a Bachelor’s of
Science in Architecture and actually worked in
that field for seven years before joining
Constructors, a large Austin-based construction
firm, in 1992. There he managed projects
entailing millions of square feet for nine years
before becoming the company’s vice president
in 2001. His last project in Austin was the
Bob Bullock History Museum where he served
as Senior Project Manager. Wohlfarth, a fourth
generation San Antonian, then relocated back
to San Antonio to open a branch office and,
in just four years, grew that office to San
Antonio’s fifth largest general contracting
office with over $50 million in annual revenue
and forty employees.
Benavidez and Wohlfarth went to high
school together at John Marshall. Benavidez
worked as an electrician for eleven years and
later as a general construction superintendent
after attending St. Phillips College. He joined
his soon-to-be business partner in 2001 and
continuously demonstrates strong skills on a
variety of projects from the estimating process
through punch-list completion.
Others who have been key in helping along
the way are employees Ron Gonzales, Nick
Bauch, Blake Pearson, Clint Snell, Anna
Counce, Shelly Lugo, and Jorge Gutierrez.
In total, the company now employs twelve
full-time and ten contract employees with
2009 revenues topping $12.8 million.
For more information, call 210-226-3400
or visit online at www.sabinal-group.com.
SABINAL GROUP
✧
Mark Wohlfarth.
San Antonio Partners
105

CONSULTANTS
IN WOMEN’S
HEALTH
✧
Above: Drs. Garza and Schneider of the
Advanced Fertility Center.
Below: Dr. Jose Ruiz with the Institute For
Women’s Health.
Women’s healthcare in San
Antonio recently got bigger
and better. Northeast OB/GYN
Associates and the Institute
For Women’s Health—two of
San Antonio’s largest obstetrics
and gynecological practices—
have joined forces.
Consultants in Women’s
Health is the resulting entity
and is now one of the largest
non-hospital based specialty
groups in San Antonio. The
goal of the merger was to
preserve and improve women’s
healthcare, quality and convenience in the
Alamo City. Women now have access to more
physicians at numerous locations and access
to cutting-edge healthcare services.
Consultants in Women’s Health consists
of thirty-eight physicians and one nurse
practitioner who provide obstetric, gynecologic
and fertility care. The practice has 250 total
employees at twelve medical offices throughout
San Antonio. Physicians continue to practice
out of their existing locations.
“The challenges in the ever-changing
landscape of healthcare made it quite clear that
integrating our practices into one would ensure
that we can preserve the quality of
care our patients deserve and have
come to expect from our practices,”
stated Dr. Kent Sadler, Northeast
OB/GYN Associates Medical Director.
Prior to the merger, the Institute
For Women’s Health was San
Antonio’s largest obstetrics and
gynecology group practice and
Northeast OB/GYN Associates was
the second largest. Northeast
OB/GYN Associates was founded in
1986 and has three medical offices.
The Institute For Women’s Health
was founded in May 1996 and has
nine medical offices.
Institute For Women’s Health
operates the Advanced Fertility
Center, a cutting-edge facility that
helps couples conceive. If a patient
and her partner are having trouble
conceiving, physicians can refer her
to Dr. Joseph R. Garza, who spearheads the
Advanced Fertility Center.
Physicians at Consultants in Women’s
Health, specialize and offer many women’s
healthcare services, including obstetrics,
high-risk pregnancies, urogynecology, robotic
surgery, poly cystic ovarian syndrome and
menopause management, to name a few. The
patient’s health information is stored on the
electronic medical record.
Consultants in Women’s Health is prepared
for the changes in healthcare. Closely following
the latest developments and proposals for
healthcare reform currently in the news and at
the center of attention in Washington, DC, the
merged practice is better positioned to take on
the new changes and challenges that may come
in the future of healthcare.
“With this partnership, we are consolidating
our resources to help women in San Antonio
live healthy and longer lives and to keep the
crucial doctor/patient relationship intact and
free of any potential disruption that change
may cause,” says Dr. Carlos Cardenas, president
of Institute For Women’s Health.
The current CEO for Consultants in
Women’s Health is Phil Stephens, CMPE.
Stephens also serves as CEO for the Institute
for Women’s Health—an organization he has
lead since its inception.
Consultants in Women’s Health accepts
most insurance carriers and is welcoming
new patients. For more information, call the
Institute For Women’s Health at 210-349-6626
or Northeast OB/GYN at 210-653-5501 or visit
online at www.ifwh.org and www.ne-obgyn.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
106

Fully rooted in faith and family and
fueled by a passion for helping people feel
good about themselves, Dr. Louis Orsatti,
DDS, and his wife, Debbie, have definitely
found their calling.
A calling they have steadfastly answered
since 1986 when together they founded
what is now known as The Orsatti Dental
Group—a dental group which not only
provides a wide range of routine family dental
care, but also specializes in the latest in
cosmetic dental technologies and techniques.
Among their cosmetic specialties are veneers,
bonding, white fillings, all-porcelain crowns,
Botox and Juvederm treatments, and
Invisalign-a system using clear, removable
aligners to straighten teeth in lieu of the
traditional metal wires and brackets.
“A great smile can give the appearance
of looking healthier, younger, successful
and greatly increases self-esteem,” Dr. Orsatti
says. “It is simply priceless to see a
person’s life change when they can smile
with confidence.”
From the time they “took a leap of faith”
almost a quarter of a century ago and opened
their first office on San Pedro Avenue in San
Antonio—he as the dentist and she as the
office manager—they have worked diligently
to treat each patient as an individual and to
provide a caring, professional environment.
This formula has catapulted them from a
small practice into an ever-growing, everthriving
dental group consisting of three
highly experienced dentists and a superlative
staff of hygienists, dental assistants and
office personnel. Soon, a fourth dentist—the
Orsatti’s son who is planning to attend dental
school—could very well be joining the
group. Explosive growth caused them to
move from San Pedro Avenue in the year
2000 when they built their present office at
15303 Huebner Road.
Dr. Orsatti is a graduate of the University
of Texas Health Science Center and is the
senior dentist for the group. He is a member
of the Texas and American Dental societies
and was recently named one of Texas’ Super
Dentists by Texas Monthly magazine. His office
was also recently named an Invisalign Premier
Provider, a designation achieved by only five
percent of the nation’s dentists who offer the
“invisible” method of straightening teeth.
The Orsattis are also faithfully committed
to giving back to the San Antonio community
where they live and work. Dr. Orsatti is a
regular contributor and volunteer at the
Christian Dental Clinic, an organization that
provides dental services to those in need, and
both are active participants in their church.
They always seek to instill “good moral
values” in their family and business as they
say their parents did for them.
“Our roots are deeply rooted in God and
family,” they said.
For more information, please visit
www.orsattidental.com, or visit them in
person at 15303 Huebner Road, Building 14,
in San Antonio or call 210-479-8989.
THE ORSATTI
DENTAL GROUP
San Antonio Partners
107

CITY OF
SAN ANTONIO–
✧
DEVELOPMENT
Development Services Director
Roderick J. Sanchez.
SERVICES
The Development Services Department of
the City of San Antonio is responsible for
protecting the health, safety, and quality of life
for all the citizens of the city.
The Department has three fundamental
goals: improve cycle time for permitting and
inspections; improve consistency and quality
of plan review and inspections; and promote a
customer service philosophy of facilitation of
the development process with all customers.
The Department’s focus is to help people
get projects completed in a timely and
safe manner so they can open for business
or move into their new home. Although
the Department must enforce building codes
to ensure buildings are safe, we seek to
help developers and others involved with
construction understand the Unified
Development Code, which relates to land use;
and building codes, which relates to
construction standards.
The Department is responsible for
regulation of land and building development.
In addition, the Department seeks to facilitate
an efficient and effective development process
that supports the city’s growth and economic
development. These processes include
consulting, educating, reviewing, permitting,
inspecting, and granting authority to develop
land and occupy buildings within the City.
More specifically, the Department is
responsible for master development plans,
vested rights, subdivision mapping/parcel
addressing, zoning and subdivision administration,
building codes administration, landscaping,
tree preservation, and sign regulation.
Since development involves partnerships
with other City departments and outside
agencies, the Department seeks to facilitate
the coordination of these reviews to provide
responsive customer service throughout the
development process.
The Department also provides administrative
and technical support to boards
and commissions that direct and review
issues on land development and construction
regulations. These boards include the
Board of Adjustment, Building and Fire
Codes Board of Appeals, Plumbing Appeals
and Advisory Board, Mechanical Appeals
and Advisory Boards, Electrical Supervisory
Board, Zoning Commission, and the
Planning Commission.
Since the Department’s revenues must
cover expenses, the Department’s staffing level
expands and contracts with the local
economy. Currently, the Department has 242
authorized positions and operates on
revenues of $22.3 million.
Department employees are involved in a
number of community organizations, including
Citizen’s Academy, Building Safety Week,
San Antonio Food Bank, San Antonio
Buddy Walk, Warm Coat Drive, Margil
Elementary Mentor Program, United Way, and
many others.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
108

In 1978, five men and one woman from
San Antonio with experience in the audiovisual
field launched Bear Audio Visual, Inc.
They positioned Bear Audio Visual as the
first full service company to provide sales,
services, installations, and rentals of audiovisual
equipment. Until Bear opened, audiovisual
customers were forced to consult
multiple vendors because each handled only a
limited segment of the audiovisual business.
At that time new technology was just
beginning to replace film strips, overhead
projectors, and 16mm film. Bear Audio Visual
arrived and led the way from its small
building on Fredericksburg Road, later
known as San Antonio’s Deco District. Texas
schools districts were their target market,
although local businesses and organizations
claimed a portion of their attention.
Today the technicians of Bear Audio Visual
travel all over the United States producing
general conference and convention sessions
for national and international companies
and organizations. Still a full-service industry
provider to schools, Bear has earned a
reputation as an audiovisual production house
that brings projects in on time and on budget.
Tony Lopez, last of the original founders,
continues to own and operate Bear Audio
Visual. His company’s survival for over thirty
years in a cutting edge, technology-driven field
is a result of adaptability. A willingness to listen
to customers’ needs led to changes in Bear’s
business model. When customers wanted more
services and the opportunity to outsource
audiovisual projects, Bear Audio Visual
listened to those requests and delivered the
products and services.
New customers emerged as next generation
equipment offered innovative applications
and greater flexibility for video conferencing
and dynamic presentations. Businesses began
to realize the advantages of training centers
and conference centers professionally
equipped with ceiling-mounted projectors,
quality screens, custom audio systems and
lighting. Churches and nonprofits determined
that superior audio and lighting systems
installed by experts could contribute to their
mission’s success. From small meetings to
large conventions, Bear Audio Visual had the
knowledge base and the staff to bring about
the desired results. Steady growth indicates
Bear Audio Visual’s success in satisfying
customers. In 1988, Bear Audio Visual
upgraded to its current location. This 18,000-
square-foot facility in the Deco District is not
far from where the business originated in a
500-square-foot building.
Bear has relied on quality suppliers for
visual and audio equipment ranging from
lecterns, and mobile carts to the latest in hightech
media equipment such as digital audio
and video, DLP, LCD electronic projectors and
Plasma monitors. Whatever technology the
future brings, Bear Audio Visual, Inc., is ready
to lead customers to the best in audiovisual
solutions and other developments of the
information age.
Bear Audio Visual is located at 1602 West
Kings Highway. in San Antonio, Texas, and on
the Internet at www.bearaudiovisual.com.
BEAR AUDIO
VISUAL, INC.
San Antonio Partners
109

LIFECARE
HOSPITALS OF
SAN ANTONIO
LifeCare Hospitals of San Antonio has one
mission: To improve the lives of people with
severe illness or injury by focusing on the whole
person—mind, body and soul. The hospital,
part of a network of twenty LifeCare hospitals
around the country, was influenced by the ideas
of critical care pioneers like Ann George, one
of the founders of LifeCare Hospitals. An ICU
nurse, George recognized the importance of
early and aggressive intervention for patients
with the most serious illnesses and injuries.
Today that unique approach to treatment is at
the core of LifeCare Hospitals of San Antonio.
“At LifeCare, we aren’t just interested in one
aspect of our patients’ recovery; instead we
fully believe that sharing expertise and
information across medical disciplines is key in
developing a complete treatment plan that will
give our patients the best chance at reaching
their fullest recovery potential,” said Randell
Stokes, the hospital’s chief executive officer.
To provide the all-encompassing care these
patients need, Stokes says the San Antonio
LifeCare facility utilizes physician-led patient
care teams that include experts in areas such
as nursing, respiratory, infection control,
pharmacy, case management, nutritional services
and a variety of social and psychological
services. As the hospital considers patients and
family members to be important members of
the treatment team as well, they, too, are
encouraged to participate in all aspects of care.
At the helm of the care teams is a staff of
more than 250 physicians. Together, they work
in a state-of-the-art 62,000 square-foot facility
featuring sixty-two beds including private and
semi-private rooms and a ten bed intensive care
unit. Other features include a designated multitherapy
gym offering physical, occupational and
speech therapies; in-house diagnostic services
including CT scan, special procedure room
and in-house laboratory services; a ventilator
weaning program; acute cardiac life-support
(ACLS)-certified nursing and respiratory staff;
and chaplain services. The hospital also offers
specialized bariatric care suites, an advanced
wound care program and acute and chronic inroom
dialysis.
Located for twelve years in the South Texas
Medical Center, since 2007, LifeCare Hospitals
of San Antonio has been a freestanding hospital
located on the corner of Floyd Curl Drive and
Fawn Meadow Lane. It is accredited by the Joint
Commission and certified by Medicare.
“We believe our interdisciplinary approach
helps speed physical, emotional and spiritual
recovery; and we embrace each of our patients
as individuals with a personal history and
a unique health situation, providing them
the compassion, support, and nurturing
necessary to achieve optimal recovery,” said
Medical Director Randall Bell, M.D.
LifeCare Hospitals of San Antonio is part of
the LifeCare family of hospitals, a network that
includes twenty specialty acute care hospitals
in ten states. To learn more about LifeCare
facilities, visit www.lifecare-hospitals.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
110

Known as “One of San Antonio’s Best-Kept
Secrets,” Meson European Dining offers
exceptional cuisine surrounded by elegance in
a beautiful dining room. As a French
restaurant in San Antonio, Meson stands out
from all others.
At Meson you will enjoy a very private,
cozy, and romantic dinner while attentive
waiters and waitresses attend to all your
needs. Meson is truly committed to the
absolute enjoyment of your meal.
Although Meson offers the finest French
food available, the chefs prepare Spanish food
as well as delicious Italian specialties.
Specialties at Meson include filet mignon,
chicken cacciatore, steak, lobster, grilled
shrimp, fettuccine alfredo, and much more.
According to a recent restaurant review in
the Express-News, “If God is in the details, as
Mies van der Rohe told us, then this tiny
restaurant, elegantly decorated in calming
peach and cream tones, is richly blessed.
From the almost flawless service through
every dish, strict attention has been paid.”
Meson can also provide that special
romantic evening for a wedding, banquet, or
other special event. The staff at Meson is
dedicated to providing a most memorable
experience and we can remove the anxiety
and help you have a fantastic, fun, and
romantic reception.
Banquets at Meson feature wonderfully
delicious foods and beverages, provided with
superb service. Meson offers service and cuisine
that is an experience in exceptional taste and
elegance. The entire staff prides itself in artistic
expression and a flair for presentation.
Whether you are arranging a wedding, an
elaborate dinner party, a corporate function,
or a graduation dinner, Meson can design a
custom catering menu just for you.
Meson’s goals for catering in San Antonio
are to provide quality food and service that is
unsurpassed, and to guarantee that your
special event runs smoothly. Meson has the
expertise to ensure that your celebration will be
not only a success, but absolutely impressive.
Meson’s private room is available for parties
or business meetings, from exquisite receptions
to special events such as birthday parties,
anniversaries, graduations, bar mitzvahs or bat
mitzvahs, and more. Why not pamper yourself
with a fabulous private dinner prepared and
presented by Meson’s world renowned chef?
We pay as much attention to the quality of the
setting as the food itself, recognizing that fine
tableware and excellent service can lift a meal
from great to a truly memorable experience.
Reservations may be made online at
www.mesoneuropeandining.com or by calling
210-690-5811. Meson European Dining is
located just off 927 North Loop at 1604 East
San Antonio.
Enjoy your next special romantic evening
with a candlelight dinner in San Antonio at
Meson European Dining.
MESON
EUROPEAN
DINING
San Antonio Partners
111

MARK
LANGFORD
PHOTOGRAPHY
It all started in 1972, when Mark
Langford’s mom brought home a 35mm
SLR camera as a Christmas present to
herself. Within moments, Mark “borrowed”
the camera and his life-long
love of photography began. By the time
Mark was a senior at John Marshall
High School, in 1976, he was not only
writing and photographing for his
school newspaper, The Rampage, he was
also working part time for the Citizen
News; a west side neighborhood newspaper.
Mark spent almost every weekend
of his senior year photographing
sporting events for four high schools
and shooting feature photos of neighborhood
newsmakers.
After high school,
Mark attended UTSA and
continued working for
the newspaper, as he
waited to transfer to
Brooks Photography Institute
in Santa Barbara, California.
Besides working for the newspaper,
Mark interned for a
local commercial photographer,
Swain Edens, and quickly discovered
that doing photography
for advertising and businesses
was more to his liking.
While at Brooks, Mark took
a wide range of classes including:
portraiture, motion picture
production, slide show
production, architectural and
studio photography. All of
these classes have been
important in helping Mark
tackle a wide range of assignments
since graduating from
Brooks with a BA degree in
1980. Within weeks of graduation,
Mark began working for Zintgraff
Photographers, a long time commercial
photography studio in San Antonio. In 1984,
Mark opened “Infinite Images” at the age of
twenty-six. Mark’s first studio was located in
Leon Valley and it was there that he continued
pursuing commercial photographic work for
local and national agencies and businesses.
Soon after moving to a new downtown
studio location in the early 1990s, Mark
changed his studio name to “Mark Langford
Photography” (www.mlphoto.com), and shot
his first San Antonio book project called, San
Antonio, Portrait of the Fiesta City, with writers
Gerald Lair and Suzanna Nawrocki. Fiesta
City lead to six more books on San Antonio,
including this one. It also provided Mark a
new opportunity to sell his work as stock
photography. Mark scanned his book images
and developed one of the earliest local websites
(www.mystockphotos.com) that allows
people to purchase photographs online.
Nowadays, Mark Langford uses the latest
digital equipment to shoot for businesses, editorial
projects and ad agencies throughout the
world. He is author of several blogs, including
a weather blog (www.myweatherpage.com)
that many of his friends and clients use to
check his daily weather forecasts and observations.
Mark is past local president of the
American Society of Media Photographers
(ASMP), proud father of Aubrey and
Kathleen, and husband to Jennifer Langford, a
NISD high school librarian. In his spare time,
Mark enjoys gardening, storm chasing, bike
riding, studying meteorology, playing pingpong,
writing fiction and composing songs.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
112

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is one
of the nation’s oldest and largest independent,
nonprofit research organizations.
From its founding in 1947 on a former
ranch west of downtown San Antonio, the
Institute has grown into one of the city’s
largest private employers. More than 3,300
people work in two million square feet of
laboratories, offices and workshops at the
1,200-acre SwRI campus on Culebra Road.
The Institute was one of several research
enterprises created by Tom Slick, Jr., an oilman
and philanthropist whose vision for San
Antonio’s future was focused on the creation
of centers for scientific advancement. From
agricultural research that included being one
of the first breeders of Brangus cattle, his
vision grew to include today’s SwRI, the
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
and the Mind Science Foundation. Although
Slick died in a plane accident in 1962, his
creations have blossomed into research
entities of national and international renown
and formed the basis for San Antonio’s
development into a high-tech business center.
SwRI is a contract research facility benefiting
government, industry and the public through
innovative science and technology. It turns
basic findings in engineering and the physical
sciences into innovative products and
processes for government and industry clients.
It initially came to prominence as a center of
applied research for the petroleum fuels,
lubricants and pipeline industries. SwRI also
became a leader in automotive research,
development and testing and in the
development of shipboard direction-finding
antennas for the United States and allied
navies. In recent years the Institute has
developed instruments, electronics and avionics
used in manned and unmanned spacecraft.
SwRI is principal investigator for a mission to
explore the solar system’s boundary with
interstellar space.
Today, SwRI’s twelve technical divisions
also offer expertise in emissions research,
fuels and lubricants research and testing,
alternative fuel technologies, engine and
vehicle research, earth and planetary sciences,
environmental chemistry, bioengineering,
microencapsulation, automation, robotics,
fire technology, geosciences, intelligent
transportation systems, marine technology,
modeling and simulation, nondestructive
evaluation, oil and gas exploration, radio
direction finding, training
systems and simulators, ballistics
and explosion hazards and
avionics and support systems.
The Institute’s staff is among
San Antonio’s most educated
workforces. In 2008 there were
more than 270 employees with
doctorates, more than 525 with
master’s degrees and more than
840 with bachelor’s degrees.
The Institute holds more
than 924 patents and in 2009
won its thirty-fourth R&D 100
award recognizing significant
technological achievement.
For more information on
Southwest Research Institute ®
visit www.swri.org.
SOUTHWEST
RESEARCH
INSTITUTE ®
(SWRI ® )
✧
Left: Southwest Research Institute benefits
government, industry and the public
through innovative science and technology.
Projects range in scale from microelectromechanical
systems (MEMS) to
planetary research involving Mars and
other parts of the Solar System.
Below: Tom Slick, Jr., founder of Southwest
Research Institute.
San Antonio Partners
113

SWBC
✧
Below: SWBC’s co-founders: Gary Dudley,
president, and Charlie Amato, chairman.
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, SWBC
has served financial institutions across the
country and businesses and individuals
in the San Antonio area for more than
three decades. In the beginning, the company
focused on providing insurance to lending
institutions, but has since diversified to
include a wide range of other
insurance and financial services.
“Our slogan ‘We do that, too!’
really tells our story. We started
out with one product,” said cofounder
Gary Dudley. “And as a
result of our clients liking how
we delivered that product, they
asked us to add others.”
In fact, most of the company’s
products have been developed
by client request and have
made today’s SWBC not just
an insurance company, but also
a risk management company, a
technology and mortgage company,
an employee benefits and
wealth management company,
a collection service, as well as a call center.
And the list goes on.
In the past five years, the company has
doubled in size and is today licensed to
market a variety of financial products in all
fifty states. It currently has more than 1,300
employees working in offices across the U.S.
with total annual premiums of approximately
$1 billion and gross revenues exceeding
$300 million and climbing. According to
the Insurance Journal, it is ranked thirteen
on the national list of Top 100 Privately-Held
Property/Casualty Agencies; and the San
Antonio Business Journal has designated it as
the number one fastest growing large
company in San Antonio in 2009.
Though business partners since founding
SWBC in 1976, Dudley—who serves as
company president—and Charlie Amato—
company chairman—go much further back.
Actually they first met in grade school in
La Porte, Texas. They quickly became friends,
but lost touch when family moves took them
in different directions, finally reconnecting
again when they pledged the same fraternity
at Sam Houston State University in
the 1960s.
After college they went their
separate ways again, Amato starting
a career in banking and Dudley
becoming a coach for the Houston
school district before being drafted
into the armed forces and later
accepting a job selling insurance
products in the Houston area.
They met yet again in 1974 at a
party, and Dudley recruited Amato
to join the company for which he
worked. Amato was hired and both
proved to be high-performers. The
company, however, was losing money
and both Dudley and Amato felt
strongly that the service standards
simply were not what their customers
deserved. It was this desire for service
excellence that led the duo to start
SWBC on April 1, 1976, and it is this
desire that keeps the company at the
top of its game today.
For more information, visit the
company online at www.swbc.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
114

Timber Tech opened for business in
January 1975 with three employees and only
one customer. Sales for the first year totaled
$280,000, about what the company now bills
in one week.
Construction of the original sixteenthousand-square-foot
manufacturing facility
in Northeast San Antonio was directed by
General Manager Gary Weaver.
The small company grew rapidly and only
three years later a second building with fortyfive
thousand square feet was constructed,
greatly increasing production line capability.
Employment grew to one hundred employees
when the firm was purchased by Redman
Industries in 1981. Timber Tech began
producing wall panels that same year.
In May 1987, Gary Weaver, now president
of Timber Tech, purchased the company from
Redman Industries.
Over the years, residential and commercial
builders and lumber dealers in Central and
South Texas have come to rely on Timber
Tech as a trusted, dependable supplier of roof
and floor trusses, wall panels and wholesale
construction products.
The company’s principal business is the
engineering, manufacturing, sales, delivery
and service of wood building components–
principally roof trusses, floor trusses and wall
panels. The company is also the exclusive
wholesale-only stocking distributor of Rosboro
Glulam for Central, South and West Texas.
To provide customers a local source
for an alternative product, Timber Tech
began producing metal trusses in 1996.
Metal trusses, which are impervious to
termites, weathering or combustion,
have continued to grow in popularity
and have been used in such projects as
the San Antonio Army Retirement
Center and Houston Hobby Airport.
Timber Tech products have been
utilized in dozens of high-profile
projects in San Antonio, including
SeaWorld of Texas, Fiesta Texas, San
Antonio Spurs practice facilities, and
Habitat for Humanity homes.
Timber Tech’s customer base includes
more than five hundred single and multifamily
builders, commercial/industrial
builders, and lumber dealers. In addition, the
firm serves retail, military, agricultural, remodeler,
Caribbean containerized shipment and do-ityourself
individual customers. Timber Tech
primarily serves Texas and, on occasion,
Oklahoma, Louisiana and more distant markets.
Timber Tech is also well known for Preferred
Bulk Animal Bedding, a byproduct of the
production process. Working
with the Texas Manufacturing
Assistance Center, Timber Tech
developed a way to convert the
six to twelve tons of waste
wood produced each day into
clean, absorbent bedding for
stable floors. Producing the
animal bedding also allowed
Timber Tech to eliminate the
$35,000 annual expense for
waste removal and create a
small profit center. After stable
use, the enriched material is
bought by ‘compost yards,’
which turn it into flower
bed mulch.
Timber Tech’s current office
and production facilities are
located at 220 East FM 78 in
Cibolo. For more information
about Timber Tech and its
products, please visit its website,
www.timbertechtexas.com.
TIMBER TECH
TEXAS, INC.
San Antonio Partners
115

USAA
REAL ESTATE
COMPANY
In 1982, USAA Real Estate Company
(“RealCo”) was formed as the real estate
investment arm of USAA, one of the nation’s
largest insurance and financial institutions.
Initially the company provided real estate
limited partnerships and related programs as
investment options for USAA Members.
In addition RealCo concentrated on
commercial real estate acquisitions with
some limited development projects for the
USAA portfolio of properties. Its holdings
in San Antonio have included La Cantera
Development, a 1,700 acre mixed-use project
which is home to The Westin La Cantera Resort,
two award-winning golf courses, Six Flags
Fiesta Texas and The Shops at La Cantera.
By 2010, USAA RealCo had $5 billion
in owned and managed assets across the
nation and its development projects average
$500 million annually. A conservative but
entrepreneurial approach has guided the
company as it has become national in scope.
The company’s business model shifted
approximately ten years ago to a concentration
in providing capital for commercial real estate
development and on raising private equity
from institutional investors and co-investing
with other institutional investors.
“I feel that our company’s success in large
part is because we have a clearly defined
business model that we closely follow,”
states Pat Duncan, Chairman and CEO of
USAA Real Estate Company. “Early on, we
recognized what we as a company do well,
and we have continued to strive to improve
upon that business model.”
USAA RealCo raises approximately $1 billion
in equity annually. Its private equity clients
include large institutions such as pension
plans and insurance companies. Developers—
national, regional and local—have established
long term relationships with USAA RealCo and
welcome the company’s participation as a
provider of development capital.
Today, USAA RealCo is one of the few real
estate companies with abundant capital for
investments. One of its most recent equity
funds creates value through acquisitions of core
assets from distressed owners. The company’s
investments in development include all product
types: industrial, office, retail, multi-family,
mixed-use and medical office projects.
A pioneer in the Green Building movement,
USAA RealCo has earned national recognition
for its projects. In a move unprecedented in
the real estate community, the EPA has named
RealCo an Energy Star Partner eight times.
Early on, USAA RealCo realized the benefits
for tenants and for the institutional owner
of following a Green Business model. In
2009, RealCo’s FBI Building in Chicago
received the first Platinum Leadership in
Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) for
the Operations and Maintenance of Existing
Buildings Award.
The company’s achievements also derive
largely from mirroring the service principles
of its parent company, USAA. Beyond the
San Antonio Home Office, five regional offices
increase regional participation.
For more information on USAA Real Estate
Company, visit www.usrealco.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
116

THE WESTIN
LA CANTERA
RESORT
Commissioned and owned by USAA—itself
an integral part of the state’s history—one
could easily say The Westin La Cantera Resort
was carved out of true Texas legends; that it
breathes life into the state’s history, culture,
architecture and is a perfect example of
genuine Texas hospitality.
“Everything about our resort was carefully
planned, designed and created to allow our
guests to enjoy the true essence of Texas,” said
General Manager Tony Cherone. “We are a
unique property that employs five hundred
people, each on a mission to ensure our guests
leave with the spirit of La Cantera; that they
leave with the kind of memories that will make
them smile long after they have returned home.”
Sitting atop one of San Antonio’s highest
points, The Westin La Cantera gets its name
from the site upon which it was built.
Constructed on an abandoned limestone rock
quarry—“la cantera” in Spanish—this highly
decorated resort sits amid the breathtaking
Texas Hill Country, an endless expanse of
majestic live oak groves interrupted only by
creamy white limestone outcroppings and
emerald fairways.
The hotel building itself is a melting pot
of styles and inspirations, its Texas Colonial
style intermingling with majestic European
influences reflected in the resort’s round castlelike
towers. Spanish Mission inspirations
can be seen in the iron metalwork and heavy
wooden doors and a Texas upscale feel is
conveyed through elements taken directly from
the legendary King Ranch in South Texas, one
of the world’s largest family-owned ranches.
Opened just months before the turn of the
latest century and the recipient of a $12 million
renovation in May 2009, The Westin La Cantera
Resort is a AAA Four-Diamond Resort Property
with 508 lavish guest rooms featuring more than
25 suites. There are six pools, each designed to
reflect the water holes that were left behind in
quarry sites after rainstorms, and three relaxing
hot tubs. Additionally, the resort boasts a health
club and spa services as well as tennis courts. A
delectable array of dining options includes the
AAA Four Diamond Francesca’s at Sunset, a
kids’ club, and thirty-nine thousand square feet
of versatile meeting space. The exclusive Casita
Village, located a short walk from the resort,
features thirty-eight unique villas, its own pool,
hot tub and courtyard.
The star attraction, however, is most certainly
the golf. The recipient of Golf Magazine’s coveted
Gold Medal Resort Award, the resort is anchored
by the eighteen-hole championship Resort
Course at La Cantera, designed by noted golf
course architect Jay Morrish and PGA Tour
professional Tom Weiskopf. Adjacent to this
stunner is The Palmer Course
at La Cantera designed by the
master himself, Arnold Palmer.
As for the property’s
location, it could not get any
better. Located within the
1,637-acre La Cantera masterplanned,
multi-use community
in northwest San Antonio,
The Westin La Cantera Resort
overlooks the city and is just
a twenty minute drive from
downtown, the Riverwalk and
the Alamo. The resort is also
adjacent to The Shops at La
Cantera and Six Flags Fiesta
Texas, and is only a fifteen
minute drive from SeaWorld.
For more information, visit
www.westinlacantera.com.
✧
Above: Westin’s La Cantera Golf Experience
includes two championship courses, once
home to the Valero Texas Open for fifteen
years, and The Academy at La Cantera.
Below: “Lost Quarry Pools.” The Westin
La Cantera Resort is an upscale 508-room
destination set on a heavily landscaped
hilltop with commanding views of the Texas
Hill Country.
San Antonio Partners
117

SENATOR
JUDITH
ZAFFIRINI
✧
Above: Senator Judith Zaffirini represents
Senate District 21.
Below: Senator Judith Zaffirini
congratulates the first graduating class of
First Baptist Academy High School. She
makes promoting excellence in education at
all levels a priority.
Senator Judith Zaffirini represents Senate
District 21. The second highest-ranking Texas
state senator, she also is the highest-ranking
woman and Hispanic senator and highestranking
senator for Bexar County and the
border region. She has carried all counties
in the large and diverse district in every
re-election, something no one else ever has
accomplished. Her district is home to 120,000
Bexar County residents, including citizens of
San Antonio, Universal City, Live Oak,
Converse, Schertz, Selma, Windcrest and other
communities. Senator Zaffirini’s Northern
District Office at 12702 Toepperwein Road
(City of Live Oak) has served constituents from
Bexar and surrounding counties since 1995.
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst
appointed her (2009) Chair of the Senate
Higher Education Committee and a member
of the Legislative Budget Board and of
the Senate Finance, Health and Human
Services, Economic Development, and
Administration committees. She is the
first Hispanic woman in Texas to serve as
President Pro Tempore of the Texas
Senate and as Governor for a Day.
Senator Zaffirini’s legendary work
ethic is reflected in her one hundred
percent perfect attendance in the Texas
Senate since 1987, except for breaking
quorum deliberately to prevent an
untimely re-redistricting that the U.S.
Supreme Court (2006) ruled violated the
Voting Rights Act and disenfranchised voters
in SD 21. Continuing her career-long 100
percent voting record, Senator Zaffirini cast
her 43,387th consecutive vote in 2009. She
has sponsored and passed 579 bills and 52
substantive resolutions and co-sponsored and
passed another 365 bills.
She sponsored HB 153 (2006), providing
for $1.9 billion in Tuition Revenue Bonds
for higher education construction, including
$74.25 million for the University of Texas at
San Antonio, $60 million for the University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and
$40 million for the new Texas A&M University-
San Antonio. Since 2003, she has secured more
than $52.5 million in General Revenue funding
and more than $174 million in Tuition Revenue
Bonds for San Antonio.
Senator Zaffirini has received more than 650
awards and honors for her legislative, public
service and professional work, including
more than 150 in communication. Self-supporting
since she was seventeen and married
at eighteen, Dr. Zaffirini owns Zaffirini
Communications and is an award-winning communication
specialist with thirteen years of
teaching experience, including at the college and
university levels. She holds a B.S., a M.A., and
Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin,
each with a 3.9 grade-point average.
A lector at Blessed Sacrament Catholic
Church, she is a member of the Texas
Philosophical Society and of Phi Kappa Phi
Honor Society. Judith and Carlos Zaffirini have
been married for forty-five years. Their son,
Carlos, Jr., is a graduate of the UT McCombs
School of Business and the UT School of Law.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
118

San Antonio’s premier retirement community,
The Towers on Park Lane stands above all the
rest in every sense.
Physically, the community stands a regal
twenty-four stories tall and is located on more
than seven acres in San Antonio. It features
585,831 square feet consisting of 353
apartments, dining facilities, a private club, a
wellness center and pool, libraries, guestrooms
for visitors and a beauty and barbershop.
Reserved parking is just steps away at a secure
underground parking garage.
The residences come in seventeen different
floor plans and range from one bedroom to
three, all featuring recessed marble entryways,
balconies, custom-finished oak cabinets, and
nine-foot ceilings.
However, physical stature and aesthetic
qualities are not the only things that make
The Towers stand out among retirement
communities. Its services are second to
none with housekeeping, transportation, valet
parking, planned activities and even shortterm
healthcare. Additionally, every resident
is a shareholder—each with an equity interest
in their investment that keeps their home a
vital part of their estate.
“When someone chooses to purchase at The
Towers, they become a member of the
cooperative with the benefits of home
ownership, including residential tax deductions,
the right to resell and the potential for equity
build-up,” the community’s website declares.
“And, as owners, our residents actually
govern the co-op and are encouraged to serve
on the facility’s Board of Directors, advisory
committees, or to contribute in some other
productive way,” states the website. “This
allows for everyone to have a voice in how the
community is managed.”
Though originally built in 1988 by USAA, a
diversified group of companies serving members
of the U.S. military and their families, The
Towers today serves both retired military and
civilians who have one thing in common—they
want more out of each day. To that end, The
Towers strives to be more than a home. It strives
to offer its residents the lifestyle they deserve by
offering a host of activities from which to
choose. From using the workshop or fitness
center to playing cards with friends or actively
participating in one of many other activities
such as classes and guest lectures, The Towers
offers something for everyone. There is even a
Resident Services Staff ready to
take groups to attractions such
as theatres or museums.
For those times when
additional healthcare assistance
is needed, each resident is
entitled to twenty days a year at
Park Lane West Healthcare.
Located adjacent to The Towers,
Park Lane West is staffed by
dedicated professionals who
offer a comprehensive approach
to nursing care, concentrating
on each resident’s unique
physical, emotional, spiritual,
and social needs.
For more information, visit
www.thetowersonparklane.com.
THE TOWERS
ON PARK LANE
San Antonio Partners
119

SAN ANTONIO
STOCK SHOW
& RODEO
It is one of the top professional rodeos in
the nation and it is held right here in San
Antonio, Texas, every year.
Founded in 1950, the San Antonio Stock
Show & Rodeo is held over a two-week period
every February and draws crowds in excess of 1
million annually. Not only is it ranked as one of
the nation’s top five rodeos by the Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association (P.R.C.A.,) it has
also been named the P.R.C.A. “Large Indoor
Rodeo of the Year” four years running (2005-
2008.) The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
has been inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of
Fame and has been nationally televised on
major networks such as ESPN and ESPN2.
Perhaps, however, the most notable thing
about the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo is
the very foundation on which it stands—the
educational commitment to the youth of Texas.
Since its inception in 1984, the commitment has
grown tremendously. From simply providing
students a venue for competition and a market
for their junior agricultural and livestock projects
to the addition of a multimillion dollar scholarship
program, the San Antonio Livestock
Exposition, Inc. (S.A.L.E.) has stayed true to its
mission of being a volunteer organization that
emphasizes agriculture and education to develop
the youth of Texas. More than forty-six hundred
Texas students have been awarded scholarships.
In 2009 there were 1,300 active scholarship
recipients representing 70 Texas counties and
67 Texas colleges and universities. A whopping
$8.1 million was committed that same
year in the form of scholarships, grants,
endowments, auctions, a calf scramble program
and show premiums paid to youth.
The organization’s hardworking and loyal
5,000-plus volunteers work on 37 different
committees. Without a doubt, they are the
very heart and soul of the organization.
“The volunteers make up the foundation by
which sixty years of success has been built,” the
show’s website declares. “They dedicate their
time, efforts and resources to planning and
conducting the Stock Show & Rodeo each
February and are the driving force that supports
the event’s scholarship fund as well as its goals.”
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo is
definitely “…more than an eight-second ride.”
For more information on the San Antonio
Stock Show & Rodeo visit www.sarodeo.com
or call 210-225-5851.
“Let’s Rodeo San Antonio!”
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
120

The authentic, mouth watering barbeque
at Texas Pride is the result of nine decades of
experience and the culinary skill of four
generations of the Talanco family.
The tradition began with Steve Talanco, an
immigrant from Italy, who settled in San
Antonio in the early 1920s. With only $500,
Steve opened a tiny filling station on old
Castroville Road where he sold Magnolia gas
from steel barrels.
A storeroom in the back served as living
quarters for Steve and his wife, Grace, and the
tantalizing odors of genuine Italian spaghetti
and meatball sandwiches soon had customers
asking for more than gasoline.
The business evolved into Steve’s Place,
which included a filling station for travelers
heading to California, a restaurant, dance hall
and tourist court. The menu expanded from
Italian dishes to barbeque after Steve learned
the ancient art from Mexican workers.
One of the best customers of Steve’s Place
was John Nance Garner, the legendary political
leader who became speaker of the U.S. House
of Representatives and vice president under
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Garner hired
Steve to barbecue for him at campaign rallies
all across south Texas.
The dance hall at Steve’s Place boomed
during World War II, thanks to the thousands
of aviators earning their wings at nearby Kelly
Field. Steve’s Place was razed in the early
1960s to make way for U.S. Highway 90.
The Talanco family barbeque tradition
continued, however, when Tony’s father, the
late Tony Talanco, Sr., opened Tony’s Bar and
Café on the South Side of San Antonio. The
café was a family place, specializing in
burgers, fries and—of course—barbeque.
After his father died in 1971, Tony and his
mother and siblings kept the café going until
1979. Tony then struck out on his own.
Drawing on the example of his father and
grandfather, Tony built a replica of an old
Sinclair service station just east of San Antonio
on Loop 1604. Using items from his own
extensive collection, Tony created a restaurant
that looks like a gas station from the 1930s
and 1940s, with gas pumps, tire changing
equipment, old soda machines and soda bottles
sitting out front. “It’s like a movie set,” Tony says.
Texas Pride Barbeque opened fifteen years
ago, based on the Talanco family’s resilient work
ethic and Steve and Tony Sr.’s family secret for
slow-smoked, old-style Texas barbecue.
Texas Pride Barbeque has been named the
Express-News’ Critic’s Choice as the place to
bring out-of-town guests for three years in
a row, and Guy Fieri, host of the TV show
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives has described Texas
Pride Barbeque as a “culinary compound.”
To learn more about the fascinating history
and delicious food at Texas Pride, check the
website at www.texaspridebbq.net.
TEXAS PRIDE
BARBEQUE
San Antonio Partners
121

TROTTER & MORTON
FACILITIES SERVICES OF TEXAS
Trotter & Morton introduced a new level of
facilities service and cost control to San Antonio
with the opening of its LINC Service franchise
in 2007. One of North America’s largest
mechanical contractors, Trotter & Morton
Facilities Services of Texas utilizes customized
building maintenance to simultaneously
improve the reliability of mechanical systems
while reducing overall costs.
No one but Trotter & Morton offers facilities
programs of preventative and predictive
maintenance that are dedicated to improving the
customer’s bottom line. Starting with a detailed
inspection of a building and a review of its utility
bills, Trotter & Morton designs a facility-specific
maintenance program based on the condition
and specifications of the existing equipment.
The evaluation of a facility, done free of charge,
avoids the cookie-cutter approach, which fails to
optimize each system’s strengths or to overcome
its disadvantages. The company understands
that mechanical systems, just like vehicles, have
to be properly maintained to achieve optimum
efficiency and longevity.
Maintaining mechanical systems at peak
efficiency translates into decreased energy
bills along with fewer interruptions of service.
Those benchmarks coincide with Trotter &
Morton goals: the reduction of overall costs
and an increase in operations continuity for
every customer. When it comes to mechanical
systems, Trotter & Morton customers can
budget a predictable annual expense that
represents the costs—without surprises—of
keeping facilities functioning. The company is
confident enough in its assessments to
guarantee the yearly cost of maintenance,
service and repairs. That includes on-site
restoration and replacement of equipment.
Its technicians, fully licensed with all brands,
do not double as salesmen.
The company’s commitment to professional
service is evidenced by the fact that Trotter &
Morton offers facilities agreements instead of
maintenance contracts. Trotter & Morton
expects its customers to be one hundred percent
satisfied with their facilities’ performance. They
also expect customers to see results in savings
derived from better maintained equipment.
Trotter & Morton’s services guide facilities
in becoming Greener by increasing their
energy efficiency. The payback is rapid for
the investment in energy technology, which is
expected to become mandatory in the future.
Begun as a family business over eighty years
ago, Trotter & Morton still believes in family
values and in treating employees and customers
ethically. Although it is new to the San Antonio
area, the company and its staff have become
immersed in the community, focusing their
support on children and education. Trotter &
Morton is now a major sponsor of the Medina
Children’s Home, a top buyer for the San
Antonio Livestock Show and a 4-H sponsor,
and a sponsor of the San Antonio Opera. As San
Antonio Ambassadors, they actively welcome
new businesses to the city.
Trotter & Morton is located at 118 West
Nakoma in San Antonio and on the Internet at
www.trotterandmorton.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
122

The University of Texas at San Antonio
offers a world-class education to students
from across the nation and from more than
ninety countries.
Nearly 29,000 students choose classes from
133 undergraduate and graduate degree
programs. The university is known for its strong
science, engineering, computer security and
architecture programs, but those in liberal arts
and business continue to be the most popular.
Under the leadership of Ricardo Romo,
president of UTSA since 1999, the university
offers 64 bachelor, 48 master, and 21 doctoral
degree programs.
The university is the fifth-largest public
university in Texas and the second largest
in the University of Texas System. It consists
of three campuses, the Main Campus on the
north side of San Antonio, the Downtown
Campus and the HemisFair Park Campus, both
located in the heart of the city. The HemisFair
Park Campus is home to the Institute of Texan
Cultures, which has become one of Texas’
leading museums educating visitors on the
state’s rich multicultural heritage.
The university also houses the Biotechnology,
Science and Engineering Building and its
newest addition, the Applied Engineering
and Technology building. This science and
technology complex located on the Main
Campus is one of the largest and most sophisticated
science facilities of any Texas university.
Research is a major focus at UTSA. The
university has numerous centers and institutes
dedicated to innovation and discovery. The
university has been recognized as one of the
state’s emerging research universities in part
because of its discoveries in cyber security,
Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment, emerging
infectious diseases, neuroscience, archaeological
research, music research and conventional,
alternative and renewable energy.
In addition to academic excellence, UTSA
offers an active student life with four on-campus
residences housing 3,700 students, and is adjacent
to various off-campus private apartments. In
all, more than eight thousand students live on
and around UTSA’s Main Campus.
UTSA also offers a recently expanded
University Center hosting various student activities
and more than two hundred student organizations.
The university’s Recreation and
Wellness Center includes numerous sport
courts, fitness studios, weight rooms, a demonstration
kitchen, a lazy river and a fifty-four-foot
climbing wall, one of the tallest in Texas.
The university features sixteen NCAA
Division I sports in men’s and women’s
divisions. UTSA Roadrunners compete in
basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, softball
and track and field among others, as well as
football, the university’s newest sport program.
The team, coached by Larry Coker, will hold
its first game in fall 2011.
Founded by the Texas Legislature in 1969,
UTSA has come a long way in forty years. The
university is dedicated to the advancement
of knowledge through research and discovery
and teaching and learning, as well as
community engagement and public service.
As an institution of access and excellence,
UTSA embraces multicultural traditions,
serves as a center for intellectual and creative
discoveries in research and has become a
catalyst for socioeconomic development in
San Antonio and Texas.
For more information on UTSA, please
visit www.utsa.edu.
THE UNIVERSITY
OF TEXAS AT
SAN ANTONIO
San Antonio Partners
123

MAUREEN
REEVES
TARAZON
✧
Clockwise from top, left:
Texas Odyssey.
PAINTING COURTESY OF MAUREEN TARAZON.
Gossip.
PAINTING COURTESY OF MAUREEN TARAZON.
The Sundial Garden.
PAINTING COURTESY OF MAUREEN TARAZON.
Jacaranda en flor.
PAINTING COURTESY OF GLENDA TARAZON KROUSE.
Maureen Reeves Tarazon, an accomplished
artist, has made San Antonio her home for forty
years. Tarazon was born in London, England,
where she received her initial art training. Much
of her girlhood years were spent drawing and
sketching under the direction of her father,
Archibald Reeves. Later she entered London
Polytechnic to continue her studies.
Tarazon has taught painting classes and
completed numerous conservation works
in a career devoted to art. Tarazon has over
fifteen hundred recorded works in collections
throughout the world. She has traveled and
painted in Europe, the Middle East and the
United States. Her travels have enriched her
perceptive knowledge of both the European
and American fields of art.
Tarazon is a member of Who’s Who of
American Women and the San Antonio Art
League and Museum and has exhibited at
numerous galleries throughout the U.S. Texas
galleries have included Greenhouse Gallery of
Fine Art and Sigoloff Gallery of San Antonio,
Salado Gallery and currently Smilovici’s
Galleria in Boerne. Tarazon enjoyed a successful
twenty-year tenure with New York art
dealer Hans Peeters.
A favorite memory of Tarazon’s is painting
with her daughters, Glenda and Donella, on
location in Monet’s garden in Giverny, France.
Donella Tarazon Lay is a painter and a sculptress.
Lay graduated from Princeton University
and had the good fortune to be student
assistant to the late Professor of Sculpture,
Joe Brown. Lay’s exhibitions include Catherine
Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in New York City and
Sculpture in the Park, Loveland, Colorado.
“What can I say, I grew up in a house that
always smelled of turpentine and oil paints.”
says Glenda Tarazon Krouse. “When exploring
a new city, visiting art museums was
always number one on the list.” “Mom once
traded a painting for a Volkswagen Beetle.”
Krouse paints murals, glow-in-the-dark
galaxies, favorite nursery rhyme themes,
mermaids, and cozy San Miguel de Allende
hillside scenes, examples of which can be seen
at www.wallabymural.com.
“This would not be complete without
acknowledging my husband, Lou Tarazon for
his support in my art—providing love, strength,
humor, and encouragement,” said Maureen.
For additional information about Maureen’s
work, please visit www.maureentarazon.com.
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
124

SPONSORS
Ariel Texas Star Inc. ................................................................................................................................................................72
Bear Audio Visual, Inc...........................................................................................................................................................109
City of San Antonio–Development Services...........................................................................................................................108
Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse.......................................................................................................................................75
CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System...................................................................................................................................101
CNG Engineering, PLLC .......................................................................................................................................................100
Consultants in Women’s Health.............................................................................................................................................106
Cox Manufacturing .................................................................................................................................................................78
Elegant Furs ..........................................................................................................................................................................102
Greene and Associates, Inc....................................................................................................................................................104
Guillermo’s Deli & Catering ..................................................................................................................................................103
Hill Country Bakery ................................................................................................................................................................80
ITEX in San Antonio ...............................................................................................................................................................76
LifeCare Hospitals of San Antonio.........................................................................................................................................110
Mark Langford Photography .................................................................................................................................................112
Meson European Dining........................................................................................................................................................111
Neuromuscular Pain and Nutrition Center LLC ......................................................................................................................82
North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce ............................................................................................................................98
North Star Mall .......................................................................................................................................................................84
Our Lady of the Lake University .............................................................................................................................................86
Quality Inn & Suites TM Bandera Pointe....................................................................................................................................88
Sabinal Group .......................................................................................................................................................................105
San Antonio River Authority ...................................................................................................................................................90
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo........................................................................................................................................120
Santikos Theatres ....................................................................................................................................................................99
Senator Judith Zaffirini..........................................................................................................................................................118
South Texas Blood l& Tissue Center .......................................................................................................................................94
Southwest Research Institute ® (SwRI ® ) ..................................................................................................................................113
SWBC ...................................................................................................................................................................................114
Maureen Reeves Tarazon .......................................................................................................................................................124
Texas A&M University-San Antonio........................................................................................................................................92
Texas Pride Barbeque ............................................................................................................................................................121
The Orsatti Dental Group......................................................................................................................................................107
The Towers on Park Lane......................................................................................................................................................119
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio ...............................................................................................96
The Westin La Cantera Resort ...............................................................................................................................................117
Timber Tech Texas, Inc. ........................................................................................................................................................115
Trotter & Morton Facilities Services of Texas ........................................................................................................................122
The University of Texas at San Antonio.................................................................................................................................123
USAA Real Estate Company ..................................................................................................................................................116
World’s Largest Cowboy Boots at North Star Mall ...................................................................................................................85
Sponsors
125

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
M ARK
L ANGFORD
Mark Langford is a “Native San Antonian” who has been producing commercial and fine art images since graduating from Brooks
Photography Institute of Santa Barbara, California, with a BA in 1980.
Mark has owned his own business since 1984 and operates the Ninth Street Studio at 315 Ninth Street in San Antonio. His
clients include international and national ad agencies, corporations and publishers. His work appears in annual reports, books, CD covers,
wall art, billboards and advertisements. Mark’s professional subjects include people, stock photography, architecture, corporate and
studio illustrations.
Mark is the past president of the San Antonio-Austin ASMP chapter (American Society of Media Photographers), where he served for
three years.
Besides his commercial work, Mark has photographed five books on San Antonio; San Antonio, Portrait of the Fiesta City, San Antonio,
the Soul of Texas, San Antonio: The Alamo, Fiesta and River City, San Antonio, a Cultural Tapestry and Our San Antonio, published in 2008.
When he’s not photographing, Mark enjoys composing music, storm chasing, biking, gardening, hiking, writing and studying
meteorology and ground level ozone. He is married to a high school librarian and has two daughters. Being highly allergic to cats and
dogs, Mark’s pet is a South American Red Foot tortoise that has been in the family for over 40 years.
Websites include:
www.mlphoto.com
www.mystockphotos.com
www.myweatherpage.com
www.annualreportsandcorporate.com
SAN ANTONIO: CITY EXCEPTIONAL
126

ABOUT THE WRITER
J OE C ARROLL R UST
Rust began his career in journalism at the age of fifteen, becoming a copyboy for the San Antonio Light while he was a freshman in high
school. He rose through the ranks at the Light, as a general assignment reporter (before attending the University of Texas at Austin, where
he received his degree in journalism), police reporter, courthouse reporter, political editor, editorial page editor, and associate editor. When
the Light closed in 1993, Rust went to work for the San Antonio Express-News as a community relations specialist. He retired from the
Express-News in 2001 and is now engaged in media consultation and part-time teaching.
About the Writer
127

For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book,
please call Historical Publishing Network at 800-749-9790 or visit www.lammertinc.com.
Albemarle & Charlottesville:
An Illustrated History of the First 150 Years
Black Gold: The Story of Texas Oil & Gas
Garland: A Contemporary History
Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History
Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated History
Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History
Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History
Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History
Historic Austin: An Illustrated History
Historic Baldwin County: A Bicentennial History
Historic Baton Rouge: An Illustrated History
Historic Beaufort County: An Illustrated History
Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History
Historic Bexar County: An Illustrated History
Historic Birmingham: An Illustrated History
Historic Brazoria County: An Illustrated History
Historic Brownsville: An Illustrated History
Historic Charlotte:
An Illustrated History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Historic Cheyenne: A History of the Magic City
Historic Clayton County: An Illustrated History
Historic Comal County: An Illustrated History
Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History
Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History
Historic Denton County: An Illustrated History
Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History
Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History
Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History
Historic Fayette County: An Illustrated History
Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History
Historic Gainesville & Hall County: An Illustrated History
Historic Gregg County: An Illustrated History
Historic Hampton Roads: Where America Began
Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History
Historic Henry County: An Illustrated History
Historic Hood County: An Illustrated History
Historic Houston: An Illustrated History
Historic Hunt County: An Illustrated History
Historic Illinois: An Illustrated History
Historic Kern County:
An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County
Historic Lafayette:
An Illustrated History of Lafayette & Lafayette Parish
Historic Laredo:
An Illustrated History of Laredo & Webb County
Historic Lee County: The Story of Fort Myers & Lee County
Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History
Historic Mansfield: A Bicentennial History
Historic Midland: An Illustrated History
Historic Montgomery County:
An Illustrated History of Montgomery County, Texas
Historic Ocala: The Story of Ocala & Marion County
Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History
Historic Oklahoma County: An Illustrated History
Historic Omaha:
An Illustrated History of Omaha and Douglas County
Historic Orange County: An Illustrated History
Historic Osceola County: An Illustrated History
Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History
Historic Paris and Lamar County: An Illustrated History
Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History
Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History
Historic Pennsylvania An Illustrated History
Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History
Historic Prescott:
An Illustrated History of Prescott & Yavapai County
Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History
Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History
Historic Rogers County: An Illustrated History
Historic Santa Barbara: An Illustrated History
Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land
Historic Shelby County: An Illustrated History
Historic Shreveport-Bossier:
An Illustrated History of Shreveport & Bossier City
Historic South Carolina: An Illustrated History
Historic Smith County: An Illustrated History
Historic Temple: An Illustrated History
Historic Texarkana: An Illustrated History
Historic Texas: An Illustrated History
Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History
Historic Tulsa: An Illustrated History
Historic Wake County: An Illustrated History
Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History
Historic Williamson County: An Illustrated History
Historic Wilmington & The Lower Cape Fear:
An Illustrated History
Historic York County: An Illustrated History
Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History of Lake Oswego
Jefferson Parish: Rich Heritage, Promising Future
Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community
Old Orange County Courthouse: A Centennial History
Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle
The New Frontier:
A Contemporary History of Fort Worth & Tarrant County
The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait
The Spirit of Collin County
Valley Places, Valley Faces
Water, Rails & Oil: Historic Mid & South Jefferson County