Toyota Texas Visitor Center Grand RE-Opening

The Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas (TMMTX) plant is one of San Antonio's largest employers and is a major community partner to the city and local organizations and institutions. The Toyota Texas Visitor Center acts as the face of the plant to the public and first time visitors to the site. The building for the Visitor Center is over ten years old and just concluded a major renovation of its exhibit space. The space included various dioramas highlighting the history of the company and the manufacturing process of the Tundra and Tacoma vehicles that visitors could learn about prior to going on a tour of the factory. Some of the major goals of this project were to rethink all of the exhibits, improve the flow from within the exhibit space, and make the exhibits much more interactive for kids and easy to update in the future. We had the pleasure of working with SRO Associates on this project and the transformation is something we are both extremely proud of. Be sure to check out Mark and David testing out some of the exhibits in the gallery below from the grand opening event last week!

In addition to the exhibit space, the exterior entrance to the building also received an overhaul with that installation of a new 11,000 sq. ft. pollinator garden. The company's environmental team worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife and the San Antonio Zoo to fill the garden with 250 native plants that will attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other insects. These pollinators are crucial to the environment because they feed from flowers and transfer pollen which allows flowers and plants to produce seeds, fruits and vegetables. Approximately one out of every three bites of food you eat depends on the work of a pollinator. Unfortunately, many of today's pesticides and other factors have lead to the decline in pollinator populations. At the grand opening last week, various company officials performed a ceremonial first release of a lucky group of butterflies into their new home. To further Toyota's commitment to improving the environment, the Texas plant also announced they are partnering with the San Antonio Zoo to plant similar gardens at six local high schools in San Antonio. Those schools will also be provided with educational resources and programming for students to learn about the importance of pollinators in our environment.