Before that, it was the Carmelite Sisters Day Nursery. The business changed hands between other madams, too, when sex work was legally recognized by the city.
It was built in for Aurelia Dashiell and has several Spanish Eclectic additions. That was all before the two-story structure was bought by an investment company managed by Douglas Miller of the Bill Miller Bar-B-Q chain.
The company, alongside Card and Company architects, wants the former brothel and orphanage demolished and replaced with a residential high-rise. Luckily, for Guerra and other San Antonians who want to save the building, Urban Loop was designated historic.
But sometime between that meeting in early May and now, the structure lost its historic designation. Both the Westside Preservation Alliance and the Conservation Society want to see that request fulfilled. While there are broken windows and garbage throughout the property — it appears to be structurally intact. There are more women — while less famous than Porter — who operated the same brothel. And Guerra with the Westside Preservation Alliance said that neighboring properties were socioeconomically connected to Urban Loop.
Romana Ramos, for example, was a midwife at Matamoros Street — Casa de Maternidad — during the same period.
