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Plaza Saltillo Revisited with Gus García
Newcomers can be forgiven for wondering where exactly they have stumbled.
Missing: People. Often, during the day or night, the place is deserted.
Longtimers know Plaza Saltillo well, however, despite its sometimes lonely and forlorn ambiance.
Built in 1997 by the City of Austin after much public discussion and with selected contributions — benches, a fountain, a statue, labor — from Austin’s sister city of Saltillo, Coahuila, it’s not a historical site in the traditional sense. Yet it reverberates with local narratives, as confirmed by former Austin Mayor Gus García, who toured the plaza (on foot) and the adjacent neighborhood (by car) with me on a hot morning in June.
The sometimes-controversial square needs some explanation, even for those who follow Austin cultural politics closely. The seeds of social awareness that led to Plaza Saltillo, García says, go back to the Economy Furniture Co. strike (1968-1971), the contemporaneous appointment or election of some of the area’s first Latino officials, such as Roy Guerrero, Gonzalo Barrientos, John Treviño and Richard Moya, and the protests against Aqua Fest boat races in the 1970s. All these events helped shape a political consciousness for East Austin and pumped energy into improvement projects such as the plaza.
Using dry humor, quick wit and slightly salty language, García recalls the twists and turns of the story, stirring in names richly redolent of modern Austin history, such as former Mexico Tipico restaurant owner Diana Vasquez-Valera, former state Rep. Glen Maxey, La Prensa publisher Kathy Vasquez, Nuevo Leon restaurant owner Rachel Dávila, former Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church pastor Bill Elliot and former City Council member Betty Dunkerley (who identified City of Austin dollars to match federal funds for the project).
Olé Mexico, a promotional zone whose centerpiece was Plaza Saltillo, was conceived to support the neighborhood’s web of Mexican eateries. The city had loaned money to one branch of the Limon family to open Don Limon’s on East Seventh Street, at the present location of Any Baby Can.
“Everybody came,” said García. “It was making money like you couldn’t believe.”
Don Limon’s was indeed big news when it opened in 1992. But the owners of nearby existing restaurants resented the exclusive taxpayer support of Don Limon’s. (Just as with the later Second Street and Domain districts, competing local businesspeople rarely respond positively when the City of Austin dangles a carrot in front of new businesses.) So the restaurateurs lobbied to create a special destination district called Olé Mexico.
Opened with blasting fanfare, the plaza was the subject of political maneuvering even from Mexico. The mayor of Saltillo, a stronghold of a conservative political party, had approved additions to the plaza (benches, etc.) to make it look more like a traditional Spanish town center. His successor, elected from a rival party, arrived one hot-then-cold day to inspect the place, and insisted the city of Saltillo give more culturally specific adornments, including the bust of a Mexican revolutionary figure who spent time in Central Texas.
Yet as with so many urban plans, Olé Mexico faded. After its initial success, Don Limon’s also faltered and closed, owing the city money. The light rail system was not built, and the farmers market evaporated, perhaps because such efforts were not marketed accurately for the neighborhood as it stood five or 10 years ago.
“It would never have thrived as do the other city farmers markets,” says Danny Camacho, a volunteer with the Austin History Center. “But as the Olé Mexico area has changed, including the loft across the street from the plaza, maybe it’s time to revisit the idea.”
For a while, before the arrival of commuter rail, the plaza became a makeshift homeless camp. Capital Metro and the City of Austin disputed which entity was responsible for maintaining the site.
Does all this activity qualify as unwanted intrusion into East Austin? Not if you consider the deep roots of Plaza Saltillo in the surrounding community and its cultural history. “It’s a natural evolution,” García says of East Austin’s growing connection to downtown and the rest of Austin. “Once we as a city decided that we wanted a vibrant downtown (and the Council voted on this issue several times in the 1990s), many of us knew that development was going to move east of downtown. It was — and still is — the most logical option.”
Nowadays, the plaza serves multiple purposes, besides rail stop. The annual Día de los Muertos parade starts here; community gatherings such as pet adoption fairs and voter registration campaigns are often booked for the plaza.
“Time brings change, some eras more accelerated than others,” Camacho says. “Yes, there were the homeless, and weeds grew as the city and Cap Metro squabbled over who was responsible for maintenance. But this is the present, and there is a future. What will that bring?”
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By Flynn O'Connor
January 29, 2011 1:46 PM | Link to this
Not only 7 months later than the full restoration of the park, and the weeds have grown again. Now that the train runs every hour on the hour (up and down) it's time to brush the dirt off Plaza Saltillo and get it ready for SXSW!
By Orlando Sanchez
August 30, 2010 5:45 PM | Link to this
I am glad to know that you made the time to visit such a culturally significant site. Austin is growing every day due in part to stories circulating nationally that we are a haven for the arts, the young working professional, and the environmentally conscious. The new arrivals simply ignore Austin's rich cultural history and places like the Plaza Saltillo are there to remind them. I've had the pleasure of meeting Former Mayor Garcia and even shared a plate of enchiladas with him. Kudos for you two for helping keep people aware of Plaza Saltillo.