The $450 million project to re-imagine the Alamo and expand its plaza is facing an obstacle that could be harder to overcome than the controversial plans to encircle the shrine in a glass wall or relocate the Cenotaph.

The San Antonio Missions Cemetery Association and the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation have asked the Texas Historical Commission to designate a portion the Alamo site as a historic Texas cemetery.

The potential impact is unknown. But judging from the way it was summarily dismissed by the Alamo’s CEO, there may be trouble ahead.

Submitted in October, the cemetery request was tabled by the commission last month. It wasn’t rejected outright, however, indicating a willingness to consider evidence the site contains a historic cemetery.