Hemisfair ’68 was the official 1968 World’s Fair (or International Exposition) held in San Antonio, Texas, from April 6 through October 6, 1968. The theme of the fair was “The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas“, celebrating the many nations which settled the region. The fair was held in 1968 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio in 1718. More than thirty nations and fifteen corporations hosted pavilions at the fair.
The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) which oversees World’s Fairs and Expositions, awarded Hemisfair’68 with “Official Fair Status” on November 17, 1965.
The venture, which had an announced cost of $156 million, was financed by a combination of public and private funds. Public funding included $12.2 million from the U.S. Housing and Home Finance Agency for acquiring and clearing the site, $11 million in publicly approved city bonds for construction of the convention center and arena, $5.5 million in general revenues from the City of San Antonio for construction of the Tower of the Americas, $10 million from the State of Texas primarily for the construction of the Texas State Pavilion, and $7.5 million from the United States Congress for the construction of the United States Pavilion.
Although Hemisfair ’68 attracted 6.3 million visitors and brought international attention to San Antonio, attendance never matched predictions, and the fair lost $7.5 million.
The fair was built on a 96.2-acre site on the southeastern edge of Downtown San Antonio. The site was acquired mainly through eminent domain. Many structures in what was considered a blighted area were demolished and moved to make room for the fair. The project was partially developed with federal urban renewal funds. The San Antonio Conservation Society recommended that 129 structures on the site be preserved; however, on August 9, 1966, an agreement was made to save 24 existing structures that would be incorporated into the fair site.
In addition, as a part of the overall Hemisfair project, the city extended its Riverwalk (Paseo del Rio) one-quarter of a mile into the site in order to link the River Walk and the Hemisfair grounds in 1968. In 2001, the River Walk was extended again under the new Convention Center Expansion and is now connected to a small lagoon inside Hemisfair Park.
National pavilions at the fair included: Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain, France, Japan, Belgium, Bolivia, Republic of China, Colombia, WestGermany, Korea, Panama, Portugal, Switzerland, Thailand, and Venezuela. There were also shared pavilions such as a five-nation Central American Pavilion, representing Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica and the special pavilions of the Organization of American States, which represented eleven more Latin American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, and Peru.
Corporate Pavilions at the fair included: Eastman Kodak, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors, Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil), IBM, RCA, Southwestern Bell (now AT&T, Inc.), Frito Lay, Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, American Express, Chrysler, and 3M.
Other pavilions at the fair included: The State of Texas, The State of Arkansas, the LDS Church, the Southern Baptist pavilion, the Women’s Pavilion and Project Y (The Youth Pavilion).
A monorail connected the pavilions together. The monorail was manufactured by Universal Design Limited and constructed by H.C.P. Enterprises
After Hemisfair, much of the land ownership was transferred to the State of Texas and the U.S. Federal Government. Today, the City of San Antonio owns approximately 50 acres of the site, 30 acres of which are the Convention Center.
(Source: Wikipedia, Tourism Sites and other online information sites.)
