Galveston’s Flagship Hotel: No Sale

Those rumors earlier this summer that Galveston’s Flagship Hotel would soon be sold to an unnamed buyer didn’t pan out. And now it looks like Landry’s Restaurants may also be backing away from its earlier backup plan to tear down the hotel and build a “pleasure pier” in its place. A Landry’s official tells the Galveston County Daily News‘s Laura Elder the company now plans to repair and reopen the hurricane-ravaged hulk-on-a-pier at 25th Street and Seawall Blvd.:

The city built the Flagship in 1965 as a show of confidence after Hurricane Carla struck the coast.

If Landry’s developed an entertainment complex, it would return the 25th Street pier to its roots. In 1943, the city built the Galveston Municipal Pleasure Pier.

At 1,130 feet long, the pier held a dance hall, a 2,000-seat open air arena, restaurants and concessions, according to the “Galveston Architecture Guidebook.”

Landry’s officials declined to divulge what their specific plans were.

The company is assessing the price of repairs, [Landry’s VP Steve] Greenberg said.

Photo: Ellen Yeates

3 Comment

  • I had no idea that the CITY built that pier!
    So… guess revenue wasn’t as expected?
    Apparently the thing is quite well-built, though, so I hope something FUN becomes of it!

  • What would Landry’s finance this with? Crab legs?

  • They should just tear that thing down, the much nicer Galvez is just down the road. They could sell the pier to the owner of the Gulf Coast Fishing Pier since he is still stuck trying to rebuild his from scratch after waiting a year to get a few signatures from state officials. It’s not like the Flagship was some icon of the Gulf or an architectural masterpiece. It’s a squat building hunched over on some spindly piers seemingly just waiting to be eaten by the thrashing waves below. I would imagine staying there has the sweeping view akin to a cruise ship being dockside.