Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
It was a silent night indeed on the Friday before Christmas, as no demo permits were filed. Check back soon for the last few demolitions of the year.
For the past 2 weeks, workers have been gutting the gray-painted 1940s bungalow at 1408 Sul Ross St., opposite the Rothko Chapel. In some cases, they’ve chucked the removed house parts in the dumpster that’s parked in the driveway.
In other cases, they’ve been saving them for reuse by stockpiling them inside:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
These buildings are fleeting:
The view from the Wallgreens parking lot at Westheimer and Weslayan St. has been a bit more scenic than usual this week since the 55-and-up Georgian apartment complex across the street started collapsing in order to make way for the new complex Crescent Communities wants to build in its place. So far, the set of 3 parking canopies that once buffered the building from Westheimer appear to have vanished. And the front façade of the building has been punched through, opening up the complex’s inner courtyard to the outside world.
Residents got some insight into what would be replacing their 114 units back in April when a letter giving them 6 months to vacate indicated that retail would be included in the new construction. Since then: silence about what those retailers might be. If they do end up flocking to some portion of 3.4-acre property, their likeliest location would be on Westheimer, in between the corner Cadence Bank branch and Frank’s Americana Revival restaurant that bookend the lot.
Photos: Philip Alter (demolition); Georgian Apartments (apartments)
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Clearing out some Fifth Ward scraps—and turning over a bit of Nottingham Forest:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
These old-timers are falling and they can’t get up.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The tacos may be gone, but they are not yet forgotten.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The cream rises to the top, but this mixture is approaching the expiration date.
The new owner of Pasadena’s tallest empty building has 2 items on its agenda for the 1962 structure: air it out and tear it down. For nearly 2 decades, the 12-story office tower at 1002 Southmore Ave. — originally known as the First Pasadena State Bank building — has managed to get by untouched by those who want it gone. (It came this close to vanishing in 2005 when the city issued a demolition permit for it, but a new owner scooped it up before anything went down.) In June, the city filed a lawsuit demanding that the property owner demolish the tower or reimburse the city for taking matters into its own hands. The defendant did neither, and instead passed the building off in October to the Pasadena Economic Development Corporation — which, having secured financial help from Pasadena’s city council shortly after the sale closed — now plans to go through with the teardown.
It’ll cost about $2.5 million to get rid of structure, the private development group estimates, after having negotiated the terms of its demise with various demolition and asbestos abatement contractors. According to the PEDC’s meeting minutes following the purchase: “the roof leaks so badly that water has gone through the whole building.”
When Houston architectural firm MacKie & Kamrath designed it for what was to become the commercial center of Pasadena in the early ’60s, the challenge was to make something “that signalled the former Strawberry Capital of the World‘s transition into the era of manned spaceflight,” according to the Chronicle’s Lisa Gray. It became an icon in town — showing up on school report cards and in the logo for the city’s chamber of commerce — and beyond, as a notable waypoint between downtown Houston and NASA’s then-new manned spaceflight facility further south off I-45.
Looking from closer up, you can see the corner holes in the building’s cantilevered roof overhang:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
An artifact from Alabama Place is slated for retirement, and an Oak Forest duo goes down:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
A River Oaks relic serves as a reminder to live in the present, for the future is never certain.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT ELSE LEFT MIDTOWN WHEN RICHMOND AVE MET WHEELER ST. 
“In addition to the Delman Theater, an adjacent retailer named the Delman Juvenile Shop was also destroyed. The popular 1950s children’s clothing store featured a behemoth machine, the “Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope,†that zapped the kids’ feet with unshielded x-rays, ostensibly to make sure the new shoes were a correct fit. In reality, it was used as a babysitter while Mom shopped. I couldn’t wait to grow tall enough to actually peer down the metal tube to view my wiggling skeletal toe bones.” [Patsy Schillaci, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Delman Theater Lives On, on Google Maps] Photo of Delman Theater and adjacent retail: Predator [license]
So long to that double-decker dwelling on the corner of 20th and Ashland St. After being tagged for demolition on Monday, the 1904 house came down yesterday. It’s departure leaves 8 contiguous lots, totaling 28,000-sq.-ft., lined up for development along 20th St. And recent permit filings reveal what’s likely to be next: a hotel.
It’ll shoot the gap between 2 existing commercial neighbors: the Heights Hospital for Animals to the east, and Heights Floral Shop to the west, across Ashland. As noted when commercial realty signage first sprouted in front of the house at 347 W. 20th St. last year, it’s the only property at the intersection not already occupied by some kind of money-making enterprise.
Photos: Swamplox inbox
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Sooner or later, all things must come to an end:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Another day, another round of offerings to appease the demo-gods:
