Park’s Friends Group Accepts Land Donation for Preservation
Los Compadres de San Antonio Missions National Historical Park received the deed to 11.6 acres across from Mission Concepción on March 16, 2011. San Antonio auto dealer Curtis Gunn, Jr. and his wife Katherine purchased the land from the Archdiocese of San Antonio several years ago after developers expressed an interest in it. “We were concerned about the view-shed out here," said Gunn, who is a past Los Compadres board president. The Gunns in turn donated it to the park’s friends group, Los Compadres, which will hold the land until federal land acquisition funds are available to purchase it from them.
“This piece of land itself is absolutely critical. Its historic significance transcends time," said Al Remley, interim superintendent of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Historians believe some of the mission’s Spanish colonial fields were located on this site. Additionally, the land will provide a scenic vista to tie in the Mission Reach River Improvements project that will reestablish the historic connection of the mission to the river.
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established in 1978 to preserve, restore, and interpret the Spanish colonial missions of San Antonio, which represent the largest concentration of cultural resources from the Spanish colonial period in the United States. For more information about the National Park Service and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park please visit our web site at www.nps.gov/saan and the park’s Facebook page. For more information about our friends group, Los Compadres de San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, visit www.loscompadres.org.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
