Note: This story has been updated.
Parts left over from the metal barn that Black Page Brewing leased out beside White Oak Bayou out a few years back are now lying in a heap next to a wooden skeleton that’s taken the demolished structure’s place. The deconstruction began last month according to neighbors who called 311 on August 31 to report that it was happening, potentially, they said, without the required permits. An inspector showed up the next day to check things out, one of several field trips the city would make to the planned brewpub’s digs at the end of Glen Park St. over the next few weeks in response to multiple follow-up calls from nearby residents.
By the time a demo permit did show up last Friday, the site had already been tagged twice by city officials: first for the premature teardown, and once again — as shown below — for additional unpermitted work:
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The brick building that the barn abutted is now the only structure standing on the just-over-two-thirds-acre parcel:
Its spot at the end of the street has been fenced off like so:
Heading in the opposite direction, the road bears left and becomes paved before dying into N. Main St., across from White Oak Music Hall. An entity connected to the music venue’s developers previously owned the brewery site but sold it to “a party completely unrelated,” to WOMH earlier this year. Since then, the former owners have “ceased to be involved in the project.”
- Previously on Swamplot: Daily Demolition Report: Ripping Black Page; Black Page Brewing in the Works Upstream from White Oak Music Hall’s Outdoor Stage Scramble; City Red Tags White Oak Music Hall for Illegal Outdoor Stage Construction; This Weekend’s Blade-On-Branch Action Upstream from White Oak Music Hall
Photos: Marc Longoria (demolition); Rob Johnson (barn)
How dare they do work without the cities permission!
Is there any group in the City of Houston more averse to following the rules than the WOMH folks? They created an outdoor stage with no permission, are trying to subvert a minimum lot size area in the Near Northside and now this?
This WOMH group wins the prize for greatest disrespect for neighbor and regulations. What a bunch of entitled lowlifes.
Maximum fine possible and hold up all permitting by these owners indefinitely …. restore law and order
I understand that people need to get permits before doing work in Houston, but who calls 311 on their neighbors for unpermitted demo?
Cranblast- unemployed spinsters with a million dogs and cats.
@Cranblast people who are used to the nearby operations operating without permits
@Cranblast: people who are sick and tired of WOMH peeps repeatedly doing whatever the fuck they want at any time with barely a slap on the wrist.
Someone should follow the WOMH money, because I bet some of it’s lining city politicians’ pockets.
I see quite a lot of hate in the comments. As if all of Hell should fall upon the WOMH folks. The lawsuit is currently a settled matter, where both WOMH and the neighbors seem to have reached a reasonable solution to the noise issues.
This one is a separate matter, and the issue here is that an (apparently not particularly valuable) rusty old barn was taken down without permission. That was wrong, and I hope the slap on the wrist they got helps avoid similar situations in the future.
That said, as a Near Northside neighbor, I fully support the idea of attracting more food/entertainment options to the area. It will help increase pedestrian traffic and safety to an area that really needs them (the N. Main corridor between Downtown and the Heights). I see a lot of potential there, and hope this is just the tip of the iceberg.
@southerncrj: Asking for more serious punishment for repeat offenders who know better is not “hate,” it’s asking for the “rule of law.” And no, your personal feelings don’t impact the law.