The improved campus will include a grand entrance to provide a strong presence on Broadway, while the entire campus will be reoriented to embrace the San Antonio River. Open storage and display for the Witte’s prized collection is part of the plan, keeping the entire collection on the campus and well protected, while also assuring that most of it is available to the public at all times.
The Witte was founded in 1926 as the “third entrance to Brackenridge Park” and “along the bend in the river.” Today, it serves a citywide and regional audience of 220,000 people, 89,000 of whom are school-aged children and 45,000 of whom are admitted free each year. In addition, when the Witte tells the story of South Texas in exhibitions and programs, it attracts visitors from 182 counties in Texas and 49 states. A 2005 survey shows that 85% of Bexar Metropolitan citizens have visited the Witte Museum and that 71% intend to visit within a year. These are statistics that most museums strive to achieve.
However, the Witte's ability to serve an increased local and visitor population is limited by the bounds of the campus and facilities. Consider these three pressing needs:
- Although The Witte currently sees a quarter of a million visitors each year, it offers them the same 75 parking spaces it has had since the 1920s. Since that time, the population of San Antonio has grown from 200,000 to more than 2 million.
- While The Witte serves nearly 90,000 school-aged children each year, the campus has the capacity to serve only 28,000 in special programs of extended learning.
- Blockbuster exhibits such as the Vatican, Leonardo de Vinci, King Tut, and the Titanic, require 10,000-square-foot galleries with 15-foot ceilings. The Witte is the logical place to host such shows, but larger facilities are needed.
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