After MySA dug into the lore behind a strange domed building off Highway 281 in San Antonio, it didn’t take long for readers to chime in with similar buildings they’ve spotted across the city. Turns out, there’s more to the story of Mission Park Funeral Chapels’ eye-catching “life centers,” owned by Alamo City mortuary mogul Robert “Dick” Tips.
What are those mysterious San Antonio buildings with gilded domes?
If you’ve spotted a massive building off the highway in the Alamo City after a glint off its golden-bronze dome caught your eye, consider yourself one of the many. They’re all over the city, with locations off I-10 near The Dominion, and along Loop 410 and Fredericksburg Road, to name a couple. But what usually has San Antonians scratching their heads — other than the mistaken rumor that the buildings are mosques — is how long they seem to take to complete.
The Stone Oak Life Center (a 42,321-square-foot property set to host funerals, weddings and other events) is located off Highway 281 and St. Croix on the city’s Far Northside. In progress since 2019, the project is expected to wrap up this year or early 2027, Tips previously told MySA. It’s not even the first of its kind in the area, as its nearly identical-looking predecessor, built in 2006, was demolished when the highway was expanded years later.
Meanwhile, MySA readers pointed out that a Mission Park location off Loop 1604 and Brimhall in Helotes has similarly been under construction for years. Google Maps shows the plot transforming from an empty field to an active construction site between 2013 and the next image in 2019. By 2022, the foundations of a 32,386-square-foot building had sprouted up; however, whether it’s operational yet is unclear, as it isn’t listed on Mission Park’s website.
If you were wondering, the domes are there as an homage to European architecture, according to Tips.
So, what’s the holdup? With regards to the Stone Oak Life Center, Tips previously told MySA he’s paying for construction “as I go” and credits restoring a water and sewer line to the property for the delay. As for the Helotes building, the construction timeline is still unknown. Regardless, they certainly turn heads, as one local under the r/sanantonio subreddit called it “a Buc-ee’s version of a funeral home.”…