HemisFair '68
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HemisFair '68 was the first officially designated world's fair (or international exposition) held in the Southwest United States. San Antonio, Texas hosted the fair from April 6 through October 6, 1968. More than thirty nations hosted pavilions at the fair. The fair was held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio. The theme of the fair was "The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas."
The official world's fair sanctioning body, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) accredited HemisFair '68 on November 17, 1965. The venture, which had an announced cost of $156 million, was financed by a combination of public (United States, State of Texas and City of San Antonio) and private (Eastman Kodak, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors, Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil), IBM, RCA, Southwestern Bell (now AT&T, Inc.), Frito Lay, Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola and others) funding.
The fair was built on a 96.2 acre (389,000 m²) site on the southeastern edge of downtown San Antonio. The site was acquired mainly through eminent domain and many structures were demolished and moved, in what was considered a blighted area, to make room for the fair. The project was partially developed with federal urban renewal funds. The San Antonio Conservation Society recommended that 129 structures on the site be preserved; however, on August 9, 1966 an agreement was made to save only 20 existing structures that would be incorporated into the fair site. Overall only 24 structures were saved.
The fair's theme structure was the 750 foot (228 m) tall Tower of the Americas, which remains today. The top of the tower houses a revolving restaurant, lounge, and outdoor observation deck and was designed by renowned architect O'Neil Ford. The Tower was successfully built and delivered on time by a joint venture between two general contractors - Darragh & Lyda, Inc. of San Antonio and H. A. Lott, Inc. of Houston, Texas. The joint venture partnership was commonly referred to as "Lyda-Lott." Other HemisFair projects constructed by Lyda-Lott included the Riverbend Parking Garage, a water sports lake, a monorail system and numerous international pavilions.
The fair's largest pavilion belonged to the State of Texas. This pavilion also remained after the fair closed and became the Institute of Texan Cultures, which is operated as a museum and campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Other structures that remained after the fair closed are the United States Pavilion (now the John H. Wood, Jr. United States District Court for the Western District of Texas) and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The Mexico Pavilion (now the Mexican Cultural Institute) was also retained, but the original building was modified and expanded during an expansion of the adjacent convention center. The Mexican Cultural Institute re-opened in 2002. Additionally, HemisFair Arena, was retained after the fair and served as the home arena of the San Antonio Spurs basketball club until 1993. The arena was demolished in 1995 in order to expand the convention center's exhibit halls.
In addition, as a part of the overall project, the city extended its famous River Walk (Paseo del Rio) one-quarter of a mile in order to link the River Walk and fairgrounds in 1968. In 2001, the River Walk was extended again under the new convention center expansion and now comes into a small lagoon just on the other side of the park.
Although the fair attracted 6.3 million visitors and brought international attention to San Antonio and Texas, attendance never matched estimates and the fair lost $7.5 million.
After the fair, much of the land ownership was transferred to the State of Texas and the U.S. Federal Government. Today, the City of San Antonio owns approximately 50 acres of the site, 30 of which the convention center occupies.[1]
In 1986, many unused remaining structures built for the fair were removed and in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of HemisFair '68, approximately 15 acres of the site were redeveloped with cascading waterfalls, fountains, playgrounds and lush landscaping. Many of the improvements were concentrated near the base of the Tower of the Americas. At the site's rededication in April of 1988, the site was re-christened "HemisFair Park." The urban park is a lasting legacy of the fair and is a gift from the city to its citizens.
[edit] External links
- Hemisfair '68 from the Handbook of Texas Online
| Preceded by Expo 67 |
World Expositions 1968 |
Succeeded by Expo '70 |
