Alamo is going blue for World Diabetes Day
by Scott Huddleston
Express-News
There’s blue cheese, bluegrass and blue whales.
Why not a blue Alamo?
Tonight, the Alamo will be immersed in blue light for World Diabetes Day, to help the 194 million people with the disease worldwide. Because the shrine is always a popular spot for photos, Alamo officials expect some people to gather there for snapshots tonight.
Its facade is set to turn blue at 6 p.m., with the use of gels, thin polymer sheets that filter light. It will remain that color all night.
The Alamo is one of at least 190 landmarks and buildings in 71 countries, and the only one in Texas, to be bathed in azure as part of a worldwide diabetes awareness campaign, said Rose Ann Barajas.
“How fitting that for Texas, with San Antonio being a melting pot for all the diverse backgrounds, that the Alamo is going to be a symbol of the fight against diabetes,” said Barajas, project coordinator for two diabetes research projects at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
The site of the 1836 battle for independence will be a “beacon of hope” for the more than 1 million Texans diagnosed with diabetes and the 140,000 who have it but aren’t aware, Barajas said. San Antonio, with a large Hispanic population that’s at risk, has some 200,000 people with diabetes and an estimated 67,000 who haven’t been diagnosed.
Each year, more than 3.8 million people die from diabetes-related causes, according to the International Diabetes Federation. World Diabetes Day uses a blue circle as its logo to convey the global scope of the problem.
Other sites to be lit in “Pantone 279″ or other medium shades of blue include the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, Pikes Peak, the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
This is the first time the shrine will appear in an unnatural monochromatic shade, Alamo Director David Stewart said. It was adorned in multicolored lights for a fundraising concert in 2005 and will be similarly lit for an event in March.
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the Alamo’s custodians, recognize the meaning of the event and didn’t feel it would dishonor the legacy of the men who died there, Stewart said.
“We need to be part of what goes on in the community,” he said. “We have some staff members with diabetes. This is a way to show support for them.”
The event seeks to raise awareness of work to find a cure and improve treatment, increase support for families coping with diabetes, and promote prevention through diet and exercise.
“To have the participation of the Alamo says that the fight here in San Antonio is a full-force fight,” Barajas said.