A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN TO KEEP THE WICHITA ST. MYSTERY HOUSE UNDER RENOVATION FOR ANOTHER 30 YEARS OR SO 
A former city librarian is channeling the don’t-stop-the-renovating spirit of Charles Fondow in her bid to raise enough funds to purchase the seminal Houston DIY-contractor-hobbyist-visionary’s remarkable former home in Riverside Terrace. “Help us raise the funds to buy it outright so we can complete the additions in our own time,” writes Virginia Verner in the promotional copy for her crowdfunding effort on website GoFundMe. Keeping the whir of power tools going appears to be one of the goals: “Current plans are to repair necessities first, inhabit the front house, and over time work to complete the unfinished bits. Events for repair and recreation will become a fixture in this abode.” The homeowner Verner hopes to replace in the 4,861-sq.-ft. expansion and renovation project at 2309 Wichita St., just 5 houses east of the Hwy. 288 feeder, worked consistently at his creation for 31 years before passing away in 2011. Perhaps paralleling the sincere, hardworking, but perenially underfunded Fondow, Verner has set the fundraising goal for her effort at $150,000 — the exact asking price for the property, which appeared on the market last Friday for the first time since its foreclosure in 2011. No mention is made how renovations might be funded after the acquisition. As of this morning, the website indicates she’s received pledges for 0.1 percent of her goal. [GoFundMe; previously on Swamplot] Photo: HAR
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT GLAZED PASTRY SHOPS OF HOUSTON? 
“First someone runs into a Shipley’s; now a Mary Lee’s gets torched. What do people have against donuts?” [Sihaya, commenting on Here Comes the Grand Parkway Sprawl; Mary Lee Donuts Burn] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY: SIGNS OF SOME MUNCHING GOING ON IN MANGUM MANOR 
“I live in Mangum Manor and there have been at least 4 teardowns in the past few months. Our neighborhood is actually enveloped by Oak Forest. I’m hoping the trend continues. It’s a great little neighborhood.” [Native_Houstonian, commenting on Under the Painted Rafters of a Mildly Mangled Mangum Manor Midcentury Mod] Illustration: Lulu
BROWN BOOK SHOP PLANS TO STAY DOWNTOWN FOR A WHILE 
Sales declines at downtown mainstay Brown Book Shop had the owner within weeks of shutting down the oil-and-gas industry technical bookstore, the shop’s new owners tell the Chronicle‘s Erin Mulvaney. But a turnaround sparked by increased online sales have changed the outlook. Stephen Plumb and Noah Davis, hired last July as consultants by the previous owner, now plan to renew the lease at 1517 San Jacinto for another 5 years for their new acquisition, double the staff to 10 employees, and change the store’s focus to its website. They’re remodeling the building’s interior as well. [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo: Brown Book Shop
WHERE THE POOP IS, IN AND AROUND LAKE HOUSTON 
“While some Houston bayous, such as Buffalo and White Oak, have bacteria levels seven times higher than Lake Houston’s watershed, the waters flowing from the San Jacinto River are more vital, said Steve Hupp, Bayou Preservation Association spokesman. . . . Houston’s drinking water is pumped from an area of the lake not contaminated with bacteria.
Only the northwest corner of the lake is impaired, records show. This segment runs from where the river intersects Spring Creek, winds through Humble and past the Kingwood golf course, and ends at the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge.
The bacteria level found in the lake segment exceeds the state standard of 126 E. coli per 100 milliliters of water by 100 percent. Levels on both the river’s west or east forks are lower — exceeding the standard by 25 percent to 56 percent, depending on the segment. Yet a small tributary, Crystal Creek, which feeds into the west fork, has the highest count. It exceeds the state standard by 168 percent.
The communities along the San Jacinto watershed are experiencing a boom in development, especially around the river’s west fork in Montgomery County. Exxon Mobil already has a new 385-acre corporate campus that will be home to 10,000 workers under construction there, while the Boy Scouts recently sold their nearby 2,175-acre camp to a master-planned community developer for a reported $60 million.” [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo of Lake Houston: Sara Robertson (license)
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON’S MAIN STREETS OF DISTRACTION 
“The fact that its not facing the freeway is progress. For too long, Houston has used its freeways as a super fast main street.
One of the reasons why the traffic is so bad in this area is that people gawk at the purdee buildins facing the freeway in addition to the excessive on/off ramps within a 2 mile stretch.” [DNAguy, commenting on This 21-Story Office Tower Is Headed for the West Loop’s East Side] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: ONE OF THOSE THINGS KEEPING BUDGET-MINDED TOWNHOUSES FROM A FULL 4 STORIES 
“City of Houston only requires fire sprinklers on homes 4 stories and higher. That’s why so many townhouses stop at 3 stories and have an unfinished room leading to a roof terrace on the 4th floor. Also, exterior finish materials over 40 feet high must be non-combustible.” [Spencer Howard, commenting on Comment of the Day: Everything New Is So Much Better] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY: EVERYTHING NEW IS SO MUCH BETTER 
“Your house was built in 1923? My condolences to you and your family. But do not despair, I know things seem now like it can’t get any worse, and it probably can’t, but one day with hard work and perseverance you will get out of the carcinogen and disease packed shelter of last resort and live in a actual house with modern plumbing and insulation. But do not wait too long, the current one can catch on fire and burn to the ground in mere minutes, due to that first growth wood, no fire blocking construction, and lack of sprinklers.” [commonsense, commenting on How It Was Before Air Conditioning Even] Illustration: Lulu
HOW IT WAS BEFORE AIR CONDITIONING EVEN 
A longtime Swamplot reader brings up the ‘H’ word: “I know Houston isn’t big on preserving many things, but I was wondering if you or your other readers knew of a good resource where I could possibly do some ‘historical’ research on my home? I must admit that I am jealous of homes on the East Coast that have a legacy of some sort. I am aware that something like this wouldn’t exist on my property, but I’d like to see if I could find older pictures of it and/or see how the area was like ‘back in the day.’ My home was built in 1923 according to HCAD, so there MUST be something out there . . . right?” Photo of 506 Cottage St., Brooke Smith: HAR
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A DEALCHASER’S GUIDE TO MONTHLY GARAGE PARKING DOWNTOWN 
“Do we need more parking downtown? Um, yes. Corporations have bought up many garages and left nothing for everyone else.
I work in the Wells Fargo building, where an unreserved spot costs $400/mo. I had a spot in the Travis Place garage for $150, but Kinder Morgan or El Paso bought all the spots. I got a spot at 919 Milam for $190-ish, and some tenant bought all those spots. Then I got a spot above Pappas BBQ at 1100 Smith, but they kicked out a bunch of parkers (including me) to open up spaces for new tenants at 1100 Louisiana. I tried to get a spot in the Theater District garages, but they have a wait list a mile long. So now I’ve moved to Two Shell, which is $215/mo. Renovations are about to begin there, so I’ll either get the boot again or it will become prohibitively expensive. (Again, all of these prices are for plain-jane unreserved spots. And I can’t take the bus because I am in and out of the car all day.)
So, yes . . . We need more non-corporate parking downtown.” [Montrosian, commenting on Downtown’s New Highrise for Cars Is Going Up!] Photo of Wedge International Tower parking garage: Swamplot inbox
THE HOBBLED DOME MAKES HISTORY 
Psssssssst! Don’t tell anyone, but the Astrodome was quietly listed on the National Register of Historic Places earlier this month. That means some future use for the almost-50-year-old structure might qualify for a few federal and state tax breaks, and that permits for mining coal on the property now might be a little more difficult to obtain. Also, there’ll likely be some sort of plaque. [National Parks Service, via Anna Mod; more info; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Russell Hancock
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE FAR NORTH HEIGHTS TOWNHOUSE BOOM 
“A ride around the far north Heights (bordered roughly by Yale, Shepherd, 610 and, say, 23rd) reveals a staggering amount of residential construction activity. The Sullivan Brothers project on 23rd is finally nearing completion. A dozen new townhouses at 26th and Ashland. Eight single-family homes at the same corner, with 20 or so to follow between 26th and 27th. Eight single family houses at 26th and Rutland. Twenty townhouses about to go up at 24th and Lawrence. Plus a dozen or so 2-to-6-house developments. The numbers easily reach into the triple digits, and that’s without anything on the old National Flame & Forge site (the double block between Nicholson, Rutland, 25th and 26th), which could add another hundred.” [Angostura, commenting on Where a Couple Dozen Townhomes Are Going in the Far North Heights] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HARD CHOICES FOR THE KITCHEN 
“For people who really use their kitchens, are hardwood floors really practical? I couldn’t wait to remodel our kitchen and replace the wood with tile.” [matx, commenting on The $285,000 Differences Between 2 Kinda Identical Inner Loop Houses] Illustration: Lulu
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN BUILDERS RESPOND TO THE SQUARE-FOOTAGE PRICING INCENTIVE 
“. . . It is a shame that square footage is such a driver on sales in Houston. Everyone I know who lives in 3000+ sq ft only uses about 1500 of it at any one time and the rest is overkill. And then they complain about not having any green space on their property.” [Old School, commenting on Brand New and by the Bike Trail on a Heights Corner] Illustration: Lulu
LANDS’ END ENDING FOR GARDEN OAKS, BUT NO SEARS’ END IN SIGHT 
Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, and Independence Heights–area customers who received a not-entirely-clear email this morning from Lands’ End calling attention to the “big savings on everything” in the Sears store at 4000 N. Shepherd Dr. in Houston, but noting that “Unfortunately, we’ll be closing that location on 1/31/14″: Here’s a little explication for you. Only the Lands’ End store within the Garden Oaks Sears will be closing at the end of the month. The Sears itself will remain open, for the time being. Photo: Louisiana and Texas Southern Malls and Retail
