Extending east of Kessler’s lawn and promenade, the Esplanade has a seven-hundred-foot-long reflecting pool (2009 reconstructed, Quimby McCoy) lined with six monumental buildings, each fronted with a tall arch that formed a giant niche with a twenty-foot statue (three by Lawrence Tenney Stephens and three by Raoul Josset, conserved in 2004) representing the six nations that ruled Texas and a mural on the back wall that represented the subject of the exhibits within. Fountains jet water arches over the pool, creating an enormous ephemeral basilica, with the six arches acting as side chapels.
Two pylons framing the west end of the esplanade fountain were dramatically enhanced with silver-gilded statues, Tenor and Contralto by Lawrence Tenney Stephens (2009 recreated, Quimby McCoy).