A Building Permit Denied

Abstract

There is no doubt that Boerne is a charming town and that much of that charm has to do with the architectural integrity of the town’s center and the areas immediately adjacent to it. The buildings are mostly made from the limestone that has long been quarried locally, and the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century flavor of these edifices, both mercantile and public, has a pleasing feel to it. Further, the center of town was then and still is a vibrant commercial area. Where Main Street (also labeled Hauptstrasse on signs) and Blanco Road intersect in the city center, a small public park is flanked by Ye Olde Kendall Inn, what was the public library, and a commercial building. Four blocks east on Blanco is the superbly maintained city hall, built in 1909. If one drives south on Main Street from the intersection, the businesses that front it are also mostly of vintage construction. A few blocks down, one crosses Cibolo Creek, after which there is a gentle rise and Veterans Park appears on the left and St. Peter’s on the right. It is no wonder that residents and visitors alike find the town picturesque and no surprise at all that many would want to keep it that way.1