For the past 12 years, Vince Cantu has owned and operated the Alamo-themed Moses Rose's Hideout bar, just a few blocks from its historical inspiration in downtown San Antonio, Texas. For six of those years, Texas government bodies undertaking a massive expansion of the Alamo grounds have been telling him the same thing: sell us your bar, or we're going to come and take it.
Tomorrow the San Antonio City Council is set to vote on an ordinance authorizing the use of eminent domain to seize Cantu's bar. It's a drastic move, which the city, the state, and the nonprofit Alamo Trust (which operates the site) all claim is necessary given Cantu's repeated refusal to sell his property at a reasonable price. His obstinance puts the entire $400 million Alamo expansion in jeopardy, they say.
