Indulge us, if you will, for a once upon a time in San Antonio when some of the city’s most iconic buildings bustled with life. When drive-ins rolled out car hops bearing burgers and shakes to hungry customers behind the wheel. When a glass-walled dealership turned automobiles into the ultimate window dressing. When a near East Side refrigerator plant was a world leader in keeping food and, later people, cool.
Already, some of these faded buildings face a brighter future. New Braunfels-based developer Southstar recently acquired the historic but crumbling Lone Star Brewery for its latest chance at a new lease on life, even if CEO Thad Rutherford has yet to say publicly just what that plan is for the South Side property. Meanwhile, a tenant is imminent for the original San Antonio home of Selena Etc., the fashion boutique the eponymous Tejano singer opened at 3703 Broadway shortly before her death, according to property owner Linda Perez of L&M Properties.
1996 STAR WEEKEND:When Planet Hollywood and the NBA ‘brought Hollywood to San Antonio’
Today, these structures still stand, devoid of life and commerce but still full of memories. And even if or when they do come down, their legacies will live on beyond their bricks and mortar…