KING READY TO LAUNCH 700-YEAR WAR Will the new Gulf Coast Community Protection and Recovery District be leading the battle to build a 60-mile-long “Ike Dike” to gate off Galveston Bay from hurricane storm surges? “I think there’s a growing consensus that something’s got to be done,†board member and former Kemah mayor Bill King tells Eric Berger: “Whatever gets done, says King . . . it’s important not to view it as a magic bullet. ‘I think it’s a big mistake to think about this issue as a single project,’ he said. ‘One thing I learned from the Dutch is that they’ve been doing this for 700 years. We’re starting a war, trying to hold back Galveston Bay from inundating the area, that’s never going to end.’†[Houston Chronicle]
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Galveston
Now that everyone’s feeling all nostalgic about Hurricane Ike, please enjoy the sweet and soothing sounds of this video, featuring newly released aerial footage taken over portions of Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula on September 20th, 2008.
- Aerial Survey Post Hurricane Ike [SSPEED]
Video: Bryan Carlile, Beck Geodetix
GALVESTON’S NEW PARKING METERS WILL BE READY TO RAT ON YOU WHEN YOU’RE RUNNING LATE Downtown Galveston’s unofficial era of free parking will come to a rather abrupt end as workers install new solar-powered meters that automatically notify enforcement officers when a space runs out of time. If you’re under the limit, you’ll be able to add more time to your meter from a mobile phone. The new wireless meters will be installed on streetcorners between 20th and 25th streets and Harborside Dr. to Postoffice St.: “The city has removed 707 of the hurricane-damaged coin-operated meters and more than a dozen of the larger meters that accepted credit cards. Shortly after Hurricane Ike struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, filling downtown streets with a salty storm surge, city crews cracked open the machines and removed the corroded, green coins. They cracked the meters open again recently and found $1,600 more in coins that people fed into the dead meters. Those coins also were corroded. The city plans to turn the coins into the U.S. Mint for reimbursement.” [Galveston County Daily News; more details]
TRACKING GALVESTON’S THOUSAND-PLUS ABANDONED HOMES City planning department officials have counted 1,078 homes in Galveston that are boarded up, look vacant and have unmaintained yards. Another 229 are boarded up but show some signs of maintenance. The city plans to use the data gathered from the drive-by survey to prepare for a code-enforcement blitz. “City staff blamed the abandoned homes on three factors: the high rate of absentee landlords and homeowners in Galveston; and the double whammy of Hurricane Ike, which flooded three-quarters of the island and damaged many houses that lacked insurance, combined with a national recession that forced many homeowners into foreclosure. Of the houses city staff identified as being potentially abandoned, 760, or more than two-thirds, are east of 61st Street and many of those are in neighborhoods north of Broadway, particularly in the Lasker Park area, according to the city’s survey, which is still in draft form.” [Galveston County Daily News]
TRYING TO PRESERVE PRESERVE LAND A year and a half after Hurricane Ike, what’s going on with Marquette Investments’ “The Preserve at West Beach” development plan for a huge chunk of Galveston’s West End? Here’s an update on a piece of it: “Last year, the environmental group Artist Boat applied for $11 million in federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program money to buy 343 acres of bay-front land from developer Marquette Land Investments. Gov. Rick Perry rejected the application, even though island leaders and environmentalists flooded his office with e-mails, letters and faxes urging him to save one of the island’s most ecologically diverse tracts. . . . Now, Artist Boat and the city of Galveston are working together to secure a $3 million Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program grant, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The grant application was submitted Thursday. . . . [Artist Boat Executive Director Karla]Klay said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association will announce the winners of the grant within six to nine months. Darren Sloniger and his partners at Marquette agreed to provide $3 million in matching land value if Klay and the city get the grant. If that happens, the city would hold the title to one-third of the 343-acre site, which sits east of 11 Mile Road and north of Settegast Road. Marquette intended to turn the site into a 35-acre marina and residential subdivision. The property is part of a 1,058-acre development that will include a 15-story resort hotel, 4,000 condominiums and houses and an 18-hole golf course.” [Galveston County Daily News]
This is it — the 1870 building where Galveston County’s Treasurer uncovered a hidden treasure of more than 100 unused old-growth pine and cypress windows dating from about 1900 above a false ceiling in the third-floor loft he’s renovating. The Magale Building at 2311-2315 Strand in Galveston was likely a window and door store and warehouse at one time, the Galveston Historical Foundation’s Matt Farragher told Galveston County Daily News reporter Hayley Kappes. That Strand neighborhood was once the city’s hardware district.
Kevin Walsh bought the loft not long after Hurricane Ike — from someone who’d lived there for 30 years. He found the windows when he ripped out the ceiling late last year.
Walsh, a CPA, also serves on the finance committee of the Galveston Historical Foundation; he’s already donated the windows to the non-profit organization. They’ll eventually go on sale at the foundation’s architectural salvage warehouse on 23rd St.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: READY FOR A FLOOD OF GUESTS “The Tremont House issued the following statement on this incident:As reported by the Galveston Police Department, there was an unfortunate incident on Saturday at The Tremont House which resulted in some slight damage to the hotel. Although the hotel still has two guest rooms out of service, the general operation of the hotel has not been disrupted. The hotel is currently determining the final cost of damages but estimates are approximately $25K, significantly lower than initial estimates. The hotel is operating as usual and is taking reservations for the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration including its 26th Annual Mardi Gras Ball scheduled on Saturday, Feb. 13. . . .” [Christine Hopkins, commenting on We Shall Rebuild! The Great Downtown Galveston Hotel Flood of 2010]
Disaster is no stranger to Galveston’s historic Tremont House hotel. Opened in 1839, the original building was destroyed by fire in 1865, but rebuilt 7 years later. That second building was ravaged by the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and eventually torn down in 1928. The latest incarnation of the Tremont House, which opened in 1985 in a dry-goods building at at 2300 Ship’s Mechanic Row that had been built 106 years earlier, flooded extensively during Hurricane Ike.
And now, just 7 months after reopening, the Tremont House has flooded again. The damage this time, however, came from an unruly and apparently intoxicated guest in town for a wedding, who — according to police — ripped a water pipe out of the wall:
The leaking water pipe caused extensive damage to three rooms, according to police statements. There also was damage to the hotel’s kitchen and employee cafeteria below, [Galveston police captain Jeff] Heyse said.
“Staff indicated the water was shut off but had already drained into freezers and other electronic equipment, which malfunctioned as a result,†Heyse said in a statement. “Numerous ceiling tiles, flooring and walls were affected by the water.â€
Hotel staff estimated damage at $100,000, including “irreplaceable items,†but a police report didn’t list what those items were, Heyse said.
- Tremont House torrent causes $100,000 in damage [Galveston County Daily News]
Photo of Tremont House Hotel, 2300 Ship’s Mechanic Row: Rasmus Lerdorf [license]
Attorney and real estate investor Scott Arnold tells the Chronicle‘s Harvey Rice he’s got a new idea for the pier site of Galveston’s Balinese Room, famously washed away by Hurricane Ike:
Arnold is considering filling the Balinese Room’s spot on the sea wall with an icehouse made of shipping containers topped with a pavilion formed of steel masts, sails and canopies. He calls the concept America’s Icehouse.
Arnold intends to rebuild the Balinese, possibly inland, but he’s not sure when. “I’ve got a busy life,” Arnold says. “I’ve got to clear enough space out of it to start that project.”
When he does, he intends to be faithful to the original decor.
Arnold says he’s already renegotiated the property’s lease with the General Land Office, and that it now covers 130 ft. of beach frontage.
- Riding on the waves of change [Houston Chronicle, via OffCite]
Photo of Former Balinese Room site at 21st St. and Seawall Blvd.: Flickr user still_crazy
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT’S GALVESTON GOT THAT HOUSTON DOESN’T? “Interesting that two nearby residents both say that the old Tudor at 1212 Hyde Park was not salvageable. I’m sorry that it became a home for crackheads and that it was neglected for so long, but I have real trouble believing that it was not salvageable. I’ve seen too many historic houses in Galveston that are older than this one and worth less than this one restored and put on display in home tours. I’ve seen burned-out, collapsed, flood-damaged houses which looked far, far worse than 1212 Hyde Park rebuilt in Galveston, many times. I don’t really think the economic conditions, pre-Ike, were all that much better on Galveston. What’s the difference? A city government that is actually committed to preserving historic houses? I’m actually serious about that question.” [marmer, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Last Resort in Montrose]
So much new stuff going on it’s impossible to keep track of it all!
- Opening Soon? A new “Houston Ave. Bar” at the site of the former Farmers Coffee Shop on the corner of Houston Ave. and White Oak. Here’s the evidence: A permit for a “2 story addition” to the property was approved by the city last month. The corner is already a popular gathering place for floodwaters — several commenters on HAIF have posted photos of the intersection after Hurricane Ike (see above) and Tropical Storm Allison.
- Moved: The Central City Co-op Wednesday market, from that Ecclesia space next to the Taft St. Coffee House to new digs at the Grace Lutheran Church at 2515 Waugh, just north of Missouri St. Sunday markets are still at Discovery Green. Next up for the co-op crew: Selling enough veggies to pay off those loans used for the church buildout.
- Opening Softly, Later This Month: A place called Canopy, from the folks who brought you that place called Shade. Claire Smith and Russell Murrell’s new restaurant will go in the spot where Tony Ruppe’s was, in the double-decked strip center at 3939 Montrose, reports Cleverley Stone. Three meals a day, 7 days a week, plus 3 seating areas:
a bright and refreshing dining room, festive bar and side street patio. We will eventually offer curbside “to go” service.
- Opening Early Next Month: The brand-new Dessert Shoppe, in the strip center portion of 19th Streete in the Heights. Fred Eats Houston writes that sisters Sara and RaeMarie Villar will be serving up “whole cakes and pies to individual desserts, along with assorted breakfast pastries, cookies, quiches, cupcakes, and some breads.”
- Reopened, for the First Time Since Ike: The Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Galveston. The combined boards of the International Shriners and Shriners Hospitals for Children had originally decided to close the hospital for good, after 30 inches of water wandered through the building’s first floor during the Hurricane. Shriners voting at this summer’s convention in San Antonio reversed that decision. The new hospital will have a smaller staff and budget. The Chronicle‘s Todd Ackerman reports that the hospital should already be open for reconstructive surgery cases; burn victims will have to wait until December for treatment.
And yet even more new stuff:
DOWNSIZING THE GALVESTON CHURCH Archbishop Daniel DiNardo details the demo list: “The St. Therese of Lisieux mission building on the Bolivar Peninsula already has been demolished. The new plan adds Our Mother of Mercy church, also on the peninsula, to the list to be torn down. Members of Our Mother of Mercy’s congregation, who have opposed the archdiocese’s plans through litigation, said via e-mail Monday that the church’s fate was still to be decided. They said there would be a mediation session on the issue Friday. Ancillary buildings, but not the main church structures, will be removed at both the Holy Rosary and Sacred Heart campuses. The lot and buildings at Reina de La Paz are slated to be sold. The buildings that comprise the St. Peter the Apostle site are all to be either destroyed or sold. Historic stained glass windows, sacred statues, artwork and other items of architectural or symbolic interest will be preserved, Auxiliary Bishop Joe S. Vasquez said. ‘The church intends to keep them. We won’t throw them away or sell them, and will reuse them locally if possible.’†[Galveston County Daily News]
ROOTING OUT THE BROADWAY OAKS The 510 dead oak trees that line Broadway get a week’s reprieve, as Galveston’s oak-removal extravaganza continues: “State officials have said they want new trees planted along Broadway in the same spots as their predecessors to maintain the 100-year-old patterns of the plantings. But forestry experts warn that planting new trees in holes surrounded by webs of existing roots could choke them off and kill them. The city’s tree committee hopes to start planting trees along other roadways in November, but with all of the approvals and agreements needed for planting around Broadway, the historic boulevard could stay bare for another year, Cahill said.” [Galveston County Daily News; previously on Swamplot]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THAT WAS MY HOME TOO “The pool was designed in the shape of our scotch terrier head. We moved in shortly after my father,Sam Maceo died. My brother, Sam, my sister Sedgie, my mother and I moved to New Orleans in 1954, when my mother remarried. The house looks great. The wall coverings have changed, but much is still the same. Years ago my mother told me that the building cost in 1951 was aprox. $500,000. I don’t know if that is accurate, but what woud that be in today’s dollars?” [Edward Maceo Plitt, commenting on The Balinese Room After-Party Pad: A Little Palm Springs in Galveston]
Note: Story updated again below.
Cribbing from Ellen Beasley and Stephen Fox’s Galveston Architecture Guidebook, Modern architecture fan Ben Hill writes in to tell us that “one of the most important houses in this part of Texas,” was recently put up for sale:
This is the only house in the greater Houston area designed by E. Stewart Williams of Palm Springs, CA. Williams designed Sinatra’s house there, and this house was built for Sam Maceo, owner of the Balinese Room in Galveston.
The home fits into two curvy streets at the center of Cedar Lawn. Its uh, “nightclub” pedigree is maintained by a circular drive with a low-slung porte-cochere in front and the swanky pool in back. And in between?
