UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, Texas

Report Summary: Built as the Texas Pavilion for the 1968 World’s Fair, known as the HemisFair, the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) was not designed or constructed to be a museum or to support its current educational uses. In addition, the ITC is not financially self-sustaining, leading to deferred maintenance of the building and museum displays that do not meet current industry standards; many collections have not been rotated or replaced in decades. To celebrate the ITC’s mission and UTSA’s commitment to ensuring the ITC’s success in the next 50 years, UTSA is undertaking a community-based process to develop a vision for the ITC centennial in 2068. Through this inclusive and community-driven process, task forces will focus on creating a museum of the future, cultivating community engagement and sustaining support, and creating leadership in facility and land stewardship. UTSA engaged a ULI Advisory Services panel to explore key themes to inform the community stakeholder visioning process for the ITC. This Advisory Services panel met virtually from June 1 to 4, 2021, then presented its recommendations to the panel sponsor. After the panel’s weeklong meeting, its recommendations were consolidated into a report, published by ULI in fall 2021. Panelists were asked to address questions in relation to the future of the ITC, the facility, and the property.