Alamo Plaza, an Oak Cliff landmark, falls to wrecking ball today.

This is so sad and just makes me sick! I hate that this great old hotel is being torn down. A developer could have incorporated it into a really fun, funky area. I wish I had known, I would have gone down to see it one last time.

North Oak Cliff will bid farewell to its own version of the Alamo this afternoon, when a 1940s-era motel undergoes demolition. 

The Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts – complete with a poor man's replica of the mission's famous façade – doesn't have quite the cultural heft of its San Antonio cousin. Still, when the wrecking crew begins work at 4 p.m. today, it will mark the passing of one more relic of a bygone era on Fort Worth Avenue.
The property's owner, Brent Jackson, hopes it's the beginning of something, too. 

"This is a nice step forward to our eventual goal of having a community-driven, community-focused mixed-used project," he said. "This is an area that desperately needs more retail."
His proposed development, called Sylvan Thirty, will include a grocery store, loft-style apartments and other retail.
Jackson didn't have a firm timeline of when the project will be completed, but he said it will build upon revitalization efforts already underway in North Oak Cliff.

A Burguesa Burger sits right out front of Alamo Plaza. Smoke, an upscale barbecue joint, and the renovated Belmont Hotel are a block to the west. Jack's Backyard, a popular bar, is a couple of blocks to the east.
"We're excited to be part of that ripple effect," Jackson said.
Given Alamo Plaza's distinctive architecture – and its history as a stop on what used to be the main route between Dallas and Fort Worth – some area preservationists hoped to save the establishment.
Preservation Dallas included it on its annual list of the city's most endangered historic places in 2007, a year before the motel closed.

The director of Preservation Dallas, Katherine Seale, said today that she understood the complex had serious structural problems.
She also said Jackson's development plan "all sounds very positive" and that she was pleased Jackson agreed to keep Alamo Plaza's landmark maroon-and-white sign.
"The most important thing he could do was incorporate the signage," she said. "That is ultimately the important history that could've been lost."

Those interested in viewing the demolition and learning more about Sylvan Thirty can stop by the Belmont Hotel's bar around 3:45 p.m, then walk over to Alamo Plaza.