dbigtex56

Ah, give it fifty years or so to mellow - it'll look great. I'm impressed that someone not only saved an historic building, but also preserved the decayed portion in the rear AND has chosen to avoid the limelight. How un-Houstonian!

I met Ms Jackson Lee back in 1983, during her first campaign for city council. She and a posse of her supporters (myself included) hit several gay bars one Sunday afternoon to drum up support. It took several attempts, but she finally made it - have to admire her determination.

Merged topics and retitled exisiting Executive House thread. Nice pictures, groovehouse! I can see part of my apartment complex in one of the views. (btw, were these pictures taken a week or so ago? Was that you hollering at me? )

Perhaps we're better off without tourism. I've found that people who live in tourist towns grow leery about people who visit sheerly for pleasure. The East Village in NYC or the French Quarter in New Orleans are, on weekdays, interesting and fairly quiet neighborhoods. The locals tend to dread weekends, because it's the tourists who are whooping it up in the wee hours of the morning, littering, and urinating on people's doorsteps. I'm sure that Houstonians who live near the nightclub district of downtown or the Pacific Street strip know what I'm talking about. As VelvetJ pointed out, people tend to visit Houston for reasons other than tourism, and are pleasantly surprised at what they find here. Seems to me that we're getting some of the benefits of tourism without the downside.

I hope prosecutors use this information at sentencing hearings.

As someone who normally champions the preservation of neighborhoods and distrusts the abuses of eminent domain, I'd normally oppose this proposal. In this case I'll make an exception. A transportation artery is vital between downtown and Greenway Plaza/ the Galleria, and now is the time to deal with obstructions. Painful and expensive though it may be, the required demolition of homes and businesses along Richmond Avenue will be, in the long run, for the greater good of surrounding neighborhoods and the city as a whole. Delaying such a project will only prolong the agony, and can only lead to a compromised and perhaps unviable version of a modern public transportation system. The question which must be addressed is how to widen the ROW along Richmond Avenue, and by what amount. It appears to me that many of the larger building on the north side of the street have sufficient set-back to allow for another lane of traffic to be installed. Will this be enough space to permit rail service in both directions? And would there be high enough ridership to offset the loss of existing parking lots?

Welcome to HAIF, Mr. Kalas, and thanks for the info on the Montegu/Hotel Cotton. To renovate the building to a moderately priced hotel seems like a sensible choice - it's a niche which has been largely ignored in downtown Houston. I'm especially pleased that you're aware of the building's historic value, and applaud any efforts you make to preserve its architectural integrity. Best of luck in your endeavor.

You betcha. Nothing worse than washing ones hands in the bathroom, then discovering that the doorknob or handle is sticky. I'm not normally squeamish, but ew, ew! Thank goodness the Jheri Curl is dead. I remember riding buses in the 80s where every handrail was absolutely greasy with that crap!

If they can add windows, I suppose the food court could be reconfigured as well. The problem remains that somehow The Shops (The Park at Houston Center?) just never quite worked. Even with access from the tunnel system, street level and skywalks, the place didn't draw crowds, perhaps because its square footage is on so many levels. Those damn escalators! A mere 20 years after it was built, it looks tired and dated. Too good to tear down, but not good enough to rennovate. Is there any hope for the place?

In other Lower Westheimer news, I saw surveyers on the vacant lot at the NE corner of Westheimer and Helena (200 blk of Westheimer) last week. Any rumors/info about what might be going up there?

Found a good website devoted to that very topic: The state fair continued in Houston through 1878, but it was discontinued after that when interest in the event waned because of the economic depression of the late 1870's and a resurgence of yellow fever in 1879. A group of businessmen in Dallas organized the event in 1886, and Dallas has been the site of the State Fair ever since. Buffalo Bayou - An Echo of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings (link)

indeed. As has been said:Buns are the lowest form of wheat. (That one makes even me groan.) But lettuce just bury these puns. May they rest in peas. No more rye comments.

Not at all. Turning thirty can be an immense relief. No longer does one have the onus of staying 'trendy' which afflicts those in their teens and twenties. So far as posting my age, I'm afraid that by doing so I'd negate that whole Dorian Gray deal with the Devil I negotiated...

Aggh! I hate puns! You'd bet-turnip it in the bud... But what do I carrots all the same to me.

Check out some of the collections at the Julia Ideson building (adjacent to the main library building downtown). They have photos of houses which stood in what's presently known as the Skyline District. I recall seeing a picture of the house which stood on the site of Pennzoil Place - a huge Second Empire structure which occupied the whole block. Bear in mind that the Market Square/Allen's Landing area was Houston's downtown until the latter part of the 19th century. Our present downtown was a residential district, and Midtown would have been out in the sticks (as was the 4th Ward). The 1830s brick house at Sam Houston Park is (I think) the only house of that era which remains on its original site.

Thanks for the info, largeTEXAS. According to their website, Indika will be relocating from their Memorial Dr. location to the new facility this summer. Here's a link to the construction photos posted on their site.

This past weekend I had the good fortune of being given a tour of Houston's East End. I'd never seen Mason Park (and I've been in Houston for 25 years.) While otherwise an attractive site, unfortunately that stretch of Braes Bayou resembles a river of trash. What great potential our parks and bayous have, if only more Houstonians can be persuaded to stop littering and clean up the mess. A grass-roots response would have a greater impact on the attractiveness of our city than having the Feds or big-bucks developers throwing a lot of money around.

What a refreshing contrast to the way the Ashland's in the Heights fiasco was handled. From the Chron article: "At least one developer backed out of a deal out of fear over neighborhood outrage at tearing the house down. " "The home's original windows were donated to Historic Houston, Baldwin said. " I hope others learn from Mr. Baldwin's example.

So has anyone tried Dolce Vita pizza? And any update on what's going in the new steel framed building just west of it? So far the only signs I've seen were for the construction company, not for the future tenant.

Not sure if I'm following you here, Hizzy. Which individuals? What perception?

Shipley's got some national exposure on a Kathy Griffin special, part of which was filmed in Houston. Seems that a stop at Shipley's is a must for Ms Griffin when she visits our town.

Houston's missing out on federal funding for our mass-transit projects - which is why the topic of politics keeps rearing its ugly head on HAIF. If our elected officials had shown more support for METRO's projects instead of thwarting them at every turn, some of that money might be coming our way. Goodbye, tax dollars! Have fun in Dallas, Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland!

I blame The Atkins Diet. Wonder what's going into the Main St. location downtown? A deep-fried bacon stand, perhaps?

What a great site! Thanks for the link.

"Because today...everyone in our audience...is getting...A NEW CARB!"