Old Sixth Ward

Nightlife
01/22/10 12:27pm

Here Come Bee Love and Special Sauce: The Corkscrew Twists Itself Into Something Hard and Fruity

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Old Sixth Ward, Openings and Closings, Washington Corridor
17 Comments

The Corkscrew wine bar at 1919 Washington Ave. will be closing for good on February 9th. Appearing in its place by March will be a new “organic bar” from the same owners. Bee Love will serve infused cocktails and other drinks with fresh, local, organic ingredients and no syrups or mixes, reports the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam. And the bar will grow its own limes, oranges, and lemons.

[Corkscrew co-owner] Andrew Adams, who also owns The Washington Avenue Drinkery at 4115 Washington Ave., says it may take a little longer to get a drink at Bee Love than at other rowdy bars along the Washington Avenue corridor because the drinks will be made for “experiencing,” not just drinking.

Adams also says that by the end of March he plans to open a new over-30 nightclub right next door to Bee Love. It’ll be called Trixie’s and feature eighties music.

Photo: Heights Blog

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Comments
11/12/09 3:41pm

Comment of the Day: Whatever Happened to That House They Were Giving Away in the Old Sixth Ward?

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Demolitions, Historic Districts, Historic Preservation, Old Sixth Ward, Quicklink
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT HOUSE THEY WERE GIVING AWAY IN THE OLD SIXTH WARD? “This house was torn [down] yesterday…very sad. [The] large house that is next to it was still there this morning. We will see if its there when I go home today. There is another small house on the same lot that was torn down about a week and a half ago.” [Casey, commenting on An Old Sixth Ward House To Take Home with You]

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Friday Group Photo Features
10/30/09 11:48pm

Friday Group Photo Feature: The Corner of Washington and White

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Old Sixth Ward
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Photographers head to the corner of Washington Ave. and White St., by the Old Sixth Ward. What do they come back with?

These pics and more! There were more participants and many more photos to choose from this week — the second round of Swamplot’s new group photo feature.

How does this one look?

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Comments
09/11/09 1:05pm

Comment of the Day: Wrap Knapp with Velvet Rope Lines

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Downtown, Nightlife, Old Sixth Ward, Quicklink, Washington Ave, Washington Corridor
1 Comment

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WRAP KNAPP WITH VELVET ROPE LINES “Good riddance! This landmark has for too long stood in the way of shiny-shirt progress. Think of how many bars with names like ‘Elite,’ ‘Wealth,’ or ‘Entitled’ you could fit on that property! For my money, I might just have to call [it] the Bourgeoises, in honor of the now defunct Proletariat. And by ‘in honor of’ I mean ‘urinating upon the memory of.’” [Nord, commenting on GM Wants To Take Away Knapp]

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Downtown
09/10/09 11:58am

GM Wants To Take Away Knapp

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Historic Preservation, Old Sixth Ward, Openings and Closings, Retail, Washington Corridor
9 Comments

On the list of dealerships General Motors intends to shut down: Knapp Chevrolet, at 815 Houston Ave. just south of Washington. Back in May, GM notified the longtime Downtown dealership of its intent to terminate its franchise agreement as of Halloween 2010.

Since then, the dealership’s owners have been trying to get the decision reversed: President Robert G. Knapp presented his case to a congressional subcommittee in July, after several appeals to the company were rejected. Knapp claims his dealership has been profitable, and that closing the dealership would significantly hobble GM’s local market share. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has gotten involved, introducing a bill in Congress that would make it easier for dealerships to appeal franchise terminations in court. Knapp is also collecting a list of supporters through an online petition to GM. More than 6,200 supporters have added their names to the list so far.

One of those supporters: The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, fans of Knapp’s moderne corner building, completed in 1941, 2 years after the dealership was first established.

Photo of Knapp Chevrolet: Chris Adams

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New Construction
08/25/09 10:37am

Houston’s New Bayou Park Pump-n-Spritz

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Old Sixth Ward, Parks, Public Art
6 Comments

Note: Story updated below.

Feel like taking a quick 16-ounce shower after your turn sweating or just watching the action at the Jamail Skatepark? It looks like Matthew Geller’s pipe sculpture at the Sabine Water Pump Station in Buffalo Bayou Park — counterintuitively named Open Channel Flow — is now will soon be open for pumping.

Here’s architect Joe Meppelink of Metalab and family taking a ceremonial first spritz over the weekend:

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Buying and Selling
08/21/09 5:03pm

An Old Sixth Ward House To Take Home with You

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Demolitions, Historic Districts, Historic Preservation, Home for Sale, Homes for Sale, Houston History, Old Sixth Ward
27 Comments

A reader sends in this photo from the corner of Union and Henderson Sts. in the Old Sixth Ward, one block off Washington Ave. And comments:

Anyone in the market for a FREE house? This caught my eye on my way home [yesterday] and made me laugh out loud. I knew it was a rough sellers market but wow – FREE?

Sorry about the ghost images in the picture – I got so excited about a FREE house that I forgot to roll down the car window before snapping the shot!

The home dates to 1890, and was sold in October of last year. This past April, the city historical commission denied the owner’s request for a “certificate of appropriateness” to tear it down.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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New Construction
06/22/09 4:14pm

Pumping the Pipeline, Flashing Lights in the Sky: New Skater Shower on Sabine St.

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Old Sixth Ward, Parks, Public Art
8 Comments

The foundation for Open Channel Flow — a 60-ft.-tall public artwork built from steel water pipe and featuring a pump-it-yourself outdoor shower — is now in the ground at the Sabine Water Pump Station. Over the fence to the south is the new Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark. When the structure is complete, sweaty skaters — or really, anyone on the north side of Buffalo Bayou Park who’s looking for a quick wet thrill — will be able to stand over the 6-ft.-diameter stainless steel drain cover, yank the rubber handle on the adjacent pump, and get doused by “the equivalent of a few cups” of water, released from the showerhead hanging 30 feet overhead.

But dude: Don’t forget about the blinking light! A strobe at the very top of the structure will flash with each pump. Which will cue bored office workers viewing from Downtown to mark another notch in their cubicles.

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Nightlife
03/05/09 10:34am

When Pigs Fly: Sawyer Sportsbar Gets Its Wings

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Old Sixth Ward, Restaurants
21 Comments

Snapped this morning: that new butterfly roof on the new second story of what used to be the Pig Stand, at the corner of Washington Ave. and Sawyer. Going in: The Sawyer Sports Restaurant and Bar, from the owners of The Drake nightclub.

Another view sent in by the same reader, from yesterday:

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Neighborhood Disputes
02/27/09 3:21pm

Washington Ave. Latest: Wrestler-Themed Tacos To Calm the Nightly Grind

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Nightlife, Old Sixth Ward, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Corridor
5 Comments

Here’s a concept perfect for the former home of the Daily Grind coffee shop at 4115 Washington Ave.: A new bar!

But the Washington Ave. Drinkery will be very different from all those nightclubs Sixth Ward residents love to stand outside and videotape, owners Andrew and Doyle Adams explain to Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal:

“It will be a place where people will want to come to have a good time instead of wanting to be seen having a good time,” Andrew Adams says.

Unlike other high-end bars in the area, Adams says The Washington Ave. Drinkery is designed as an unpretentious, laid-back bar.

Sure, but what will all those down-to-earth customers do in the wee hours after the new bar closes?

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Demolitions
02/19/09 3:01pm

Comment of the Day: Building Green Space

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Historic Preservation, Old Sixth Ward, Quicklink
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: BUILDING GREEN SPACE “I think the State and Henderson historic properties are adjacent and both owned by Fenchurch Properties. Certificate of Appropriateness information at http://tinyurl.com/bhfzsj and http://tinyurl.com/al479p – in both applications, Fenchurch claimed it wants to turn the properties into green space. The Chairman of Fenchurch Properties is Thomas A. Reiser. Tom Reiser spent $1.2 million of his own money in a 2002 Texas House race against Chris Bell, and lost.” [ArlingtonSt, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Making Demolition History]

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Crime
07/11/08 9:55am

Skateboarding Is Not a Crime?

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Neighborhood Disputes, Old Sixth Ward, Parks, Quicklink
9 Comments

SKATEBOARDING IS NOT A CRIME? Some residents of the Sabine Street Lofts are unhappy with the new Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark that opened across the street on June 1st: “an average of 320 people have skated its ramps and concrete bowls every day. Lofts residents say the skaters also have tagged city property, left behind soda cans and snack-food trash and even trespassed onto loft property to skate in the parking garage. Topping their complaints is illegal parking on the Sabine Street bridge, which they say constricts the route they use into and out of the complex.” [Houston Chronicle; previously]

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Leasing
07/03/08 10:56am

The Pig’s New Gig: Sawyer Sportsbar

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Old Sixth Ward, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Washington Corridor
6 Comments

Former Pig Stand Coffee Shop on Washington Ave., Houston

Neighbors in the Sixth Ward have noticed some activity at the shuttered Pig Stand on Washington at Sawyer:

It appears that the former owners of the Pigstand property have retained ownership, but that they have leased the property out to the Sawyer Sportsbar, Inc.

Sawyer Sportsbar, Inc., is a new corporation, formed in April, by none other than Darren Van Delden, owner of The Drake.

I am not sure if Darren or the Dallas property owners are doing the build-out, but it is in its very early stages. (The Pigstand only had an outdoor bathroom, so I expect some relatively expansive upgrades, at least to the interior).

Photo of Washington Ave. Pig Stand (No. 7): Flickr user Fotollena

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Old Sixth Ward
03/17/08 11:58am

News from the Artist Front

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Openings and Closings, Retail, Washington Corridor
No Comments

View Inside Afront, 2205 Washington Ave., Houston

Razorblade and wheatpaste artist Give Up gives up this photo preview of the Artist Front (AFront for short) boutique and skate shop, opening March 21st on Washington:

anthony correa and matt fuller have decided to take their combined years of experience in pretty much every facet of the skateboard industry and turn it into something a little more physical. offering up a new skate/boutique/gallery space under the name A-FRONT. located at 2205 washington next door to the darkhorse tavern, A-FRONT is like houston’s answer to supreme or huf or ftc. with an even stronger emphasis on art. a fully functional gallery space, the shop’s grand opening will also be the opening of their first show.

Another inside photo of Afront — from the front — after the jump.

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