Post by martinvasquez on Jul 7, 2009 10:28:54 GMT -5
San Antonio Express News-07/07/09
Dramatic images of John Wayne holding off Mexican soldiers in the 1960 movie “The Alamo” may still be vivid memories for generations of moviegoers, but the dusty, Southwest Texas set where those scenes were shot is going dim.
Alamo Village, a 500-acre compound north of Brackettville where the sprawling set is located, has been closed to the public as its owners try to determine their next step. The decision follows the recent death of Virginia Shahan, the 93-year-old widow of the rancher who built the attraction. She had been its backbone in recent years.
“At this time, we choose to close the gates of Alamo Village in order to reconstruct management and possibly redirect our efforts toward new positive goals,” a statement on the Alamo Village Web site says.
Special events such as large trail rides and weddings still can be booked, and movie producers still are being encouraged to shoot films there.
But it may be awhile before the general public is invited back to explore the replica of the 1836 Alamo fortress, visit the John Wayne Western Museum, watch a staged gunfight and take in other features of the pioneering movie set some 120 miles west of San Antonio.
“It could open next week. It could open never,” said Tulisha Shahan Wardlaw, one of Shahan's three children who agreed on the closure. “I honestly do not know what's going to happen.”
The closing saddened tourism officials, more than a dozen entertainers and staff members who kept the attraction going, and the head of the Texas Film Commission.
“It is kind of a lingering icon of Texas culture,” commission Director Bob Hudgins said of the movie that was filmed on the set.
Hudgins said the set, which won the American Cowboy Culture Award in 1998, probably was the first large-scale movie set constructed in Texas.
It has been the scene of scores of movies, TV shows, commercials and other video productions since “The Alamo” and still draws regular interest from movie producers, he said.
Hattie Beleth, president of the Kinney County Chamber of Commerce, said Alamo Village brings visitors to her border county from around the world and boosts traffic for the county's other tourist attraction, Fort Clark Springs.
“It will hurt a great deal,” Beleth said of the closing.
Wardlaw said she and her brother and sister also were saddened by the closing but felt they needed time to look at the operations and decide the best way to proceed.
They have a lot to learn because health concerns, distances and other issues have kept them from being involved in the daily operation of the village over the years, said Wardlaw, who ranches near Brackettville.
“We're taking it one day at a time and trying to figure out what our options are,” she said.
One of those options could be selling the compound. Shahan put it up for sale for $6.5 million in 2002, but no one bought it.
Still, Wardlaw hopes the family can find a way to reopen the attraction so the spirit her parents and their employees created over the years can survive.
“I don't want that 50 years to die, but sometimes we might not have a choice,” she said.
Dramatic images of John Wayne holding off Mexican soldiers in the 1960 movie “The Alamo” may still be vivid memories for generations of moviegoers, but the dusty, Southwest Texas set where those scenes were shot is going dim.
Alamo Village, a 500-acre compound north of Brackettville where the sprawling set is located, has been closed to the public as its owners try to determine their next step. The decision follows the recent death of Virginia Shahan, the 93-year-old widow of the rancher who built the attraction. She had been its backbone in recent years.
“At this time, we choose to close the gates of Alamo Village in order to reconstruct management and possibly redirect our efforts toward new positive goals,” a statement on the Alamo Village Web site says.
Special events such as large trail rides and weddings still can be booked, and movie producers still are being encouraged to shoot films there.
But it may be awhile before the general public is invited back to explore the replica of the 1836 Alamo fortress, visit the John Wayne Western Museum, watch a staged gunfight and take in other features of the pioneering movie set some 120 miles west of San Antonio.
“It could open next week. It could open never,” said Tulisha Shahan Wardlaw, one of Shahan's three children who agreed on the closure. “I honestly do not know what's going to happen.”
The closing saddened tourism officials, more than a dozen entertainers and staff members who kept the attraction going, and the head of the Texas Film Commission.
“It is kind of a lingering icon of Texas culture,” commission Director Bob Hudgins said of the movie that was filmed on the set.
Hudgins said the set, which won the American Cowboy Culture Award in 1998, probably was the first large-scale movie set constructed in Texas.
It has been the scene of scores of movies, TV shows, commercials and other video productions since “The Alamo” and still draws regular interest from movie producers, he said.
Hattie Beleth, president of the Kinney County Chamber of Commerce, said Alamo Village brings visitors to her border county from around the world and boosts traffic for the county's other tourist attraction, Fort Clark Springs.
“It will hurt a great deal,” Beleth said of the closing.
Wardlaw said she and her brother and sister also were saddened by the closing but felt they needed time to look at the operations and decide the best way to proceed.
They have a lot to learn because health concerns, distances and other issues have kept them from being involved in the daily operation of the village over the years, said Wardlaw, who ranches near Brackettville.
“We're taking it one day at a time and trying to figure out what our options are,” she said.
One of those options could be selling the compound. Shahan put it up for sale for $6.5 million in 2002, but no one bought it.
Still, Wardlaw hopes the family can find a way to reopen the attraction so the spirit her parents and their employees created over the years can survive.
“I don't want that 50 years to die, but sometimes we might not have a choice,” she said.
