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UNESCO designates the Alamo 'World Heritage' site

Greg Toppo
USATODAY
FILE - In this March 6, 2013, file photo, John Potter, a member of the San Antonio Living History Association, patrols the Alamo in San Antonio, during a pre-dawn memorial ceremony to remember the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and those who fell on both sides. The San Antonio Missions in Texas have been awarded world heritage status by the U.N.'s cultural body.UNESCO's World Heritage Committee approved the listing Sunday, July 5, 2015, of the five Spanish Roman Catholic sites built in the 18th century in and around what is now the city of San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) ORG XMIT: NY110

The Alamo and four Spanish colonial Catholic missions in Texas are being designated U.S. World Heritage sites by the United Nations, joining other key landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Philadelphia's Independence Hall, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home, among more than 1,000 others worldwide.

The designations, announced Sunday, mark the first time that a Texas site has been deemed of "outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity" by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Elsewhere, Britain's Stonehenge, India's Taj Mahal, Cambodia's Angkor Wat and the Great Barrier Reef are also on the list.

In addition to the Alamo, the newly designated "world heritage" shrines include missions at Concepción, San Jose, San Juan and Espada, all in San Antonio.

The decision caps a nine-year campaign by Texas and the city of San Antonio to have the early 18th century missions listed alongside the cultural landmarks.

The announcement came at a Sunday UNESCO meeting in Germany. Crystal Nix-Himes, U.S. ambassador to UNESCO, said the USA has "a powerful and valuable history that encompasses a wide range of peoples, creeds and experiences." The San Antonio landmark was the site of the pivotal 13-day Battle of the Alamo in 1836 against Mexican Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna's army. Among those who fought and died there were frontiersmen Jim Bowie and David "Davy" Crockett, who had also served as a congressman from Tennessee.

The nomination process began in late 2006, launched by the San Antonio Conservation Society and later including the city of San Antonio, Bexar County and the Texas General Land Office, which manages the missions.

FILES - A man wearing a San Antonio Spurs jersey with Manu Ginobili's name on the back snaps a photo of his friend in front of the Alamo on June 14, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas. The Alamo has been awarded world heritage status from UNESCO on July 5, 2015. The Alamo, built as a chapel after 1744,  is all that remains from the mission of San Antonio de Valero which was founded in 1718 by the Franciscans and eventually converted into a fortress. The city's most famous landmark played a crucial role in the Texas Revolution with the Battle of the Alamo, a thirteen day seige from February 23 to March 6, 1836, and remains a popular tourist destination.  AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWNFREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: 542293227

Sunday's news comes amid a turbulent period for the Alamo, The Texas Tribune

reported. In March, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush fired the site's longtime managers, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, citing a failure to maintain the state-owned shrine.

And in January, in response to the UNESCO nomination, Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell introduced legislation banning any foreign entity from owning, controlling or managing the Alamo complex. UNESCO officials have said the designation does not open up the Alamo to any kind of foreign control.

Campbell's bill never made it out of a state Senate committee.

According to a 2013 report by the Harbinger Consulting Group, the World Heritage designation could add up to $105 million in economic activity to Bexar County by 2025, as well as up to 1,100 jobs and as much as $2.2 million in new hotel tax revenue.

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