SANDBAGGING IN MEYERLAND 
What kind of person would pay close to $5,000 to have 18,000 pounds of sandbags delivered and installed in a low stack in front of a 5-ft.-high waterproofing barrier surrounding her home? The owner of a Meyerland single-story 4-bedroom (pictured above) 1 block south of Brays Bayou that flooded “for the first time” in the Memorial Day deluge of 2015 (according to a real estate listing of that year) and then twice more in the past year or so. “This may not even work,” Kristin Massey tells Houston Public Media’s Marissa Cummings. “It’s just an effort to hope that it will.†Massey says she would have installed more sandbags if more had been available: “I would have liked to have gone higher than 11 inches, but I have about half or a third of what I need.” [Houston Public Media] Photo: Houston Public Media
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SWAMPLOT WANTS YOUR PRE-FLOODING, FLOODING, AND POST-FLOODING PHOTOS 
Houston’s first hurricane of the smartphone-carry era is almost upon us. Plus, at least a few of you will have drones at the ready this time (once the winds subside, of course). It all adds up to a grand possibility: Houston’s best-documented storm aftermath ever. Whichever direction you end up hunkering this long weekend, stay safe! But when the hazards recede and you venture out to see what’s up in or around your neighborhood, snap some pics or vids of notable sights and send them to Swamplot! Our tips line is always open. You can also upload photos or short videos to the Swamplot Flickr pool — or send us a link to videos you’ve uploaded to YouTube. We want to see images you’ve taken yourself. Please let us know where they were taken, and whether you’d like to be credited if we publish any of them. What we’d all like to see: high-water marks, low points, sequences; scenes you wouldn’t see unless you were in the middle of a famously flat, low-lying city after a big storm. Tell us a story! Photo of Kirby Dr. after Hurricane Ike: Swamplot inbox
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Demo crews making a mess of the former Exxon Upstream Research Facility on Buffalo Spdwy. between Richmond and W. Alabama started early this morning — at 5:30 am, reports a reader. Erick Ganzo, who’s been tracking the steady disappearance of the MacKie and Kamrath Architects 1962 office complex (as well as more recent additions) from the 16.9-acre compound, says workers lit up the site with large bright lights before the rising sun took over that job. He tells Swamplot he assumes workers are aiming to complete demo work before Hurricane Harvey arrives later today.
- Previously on Swamplot: Midcentury Mod Former Exxon Office on Buffalo Spdwy. Slowly Disappearing from Behind; The Continuing Untold Story of What Happened When ExxonMobil Moved North; What’s Going Down at the Former Exxon Upstream Site: An Aerial Take; Mashing, Smashing Begin in Earnest at Buffalo Spdwy. Ex-Exxon Campus; Daily Demolition Report: West Mandell Defaced; New Owner of Exxon’s Buffalo Spdwy. Research Campus Knocking Out Exterior Defenses This Week
Photo: Erick Ganzo
3120 Buffalo Speedway
- Hurricane Harvey Intensifies into Category 2 Hurricane Overnight, Prompting Evacuations of Some Coastal Areas [Houston Chronicle]
- Kroger, H-E-B, Home Depot Stock Up on Supplies for Hurricane Harvey [Houston Chronicle]
- Houston Refineries Gearing Up for Harvey [Houston Public Media]
- Houston ISD Cancels First Day of School Monday, Other Districts Alter Schedules [Houston Public Media]
- Houston Zoo Closing Ahead of Hurricane Harvey [Houston Chronicle]
- Katy Area Roads To Avoid During the Storm and After [Community Impact]
- Foundry Club Co-Working Space Coming to Downtown’s Main & Co. Building [Houston Chronicle]
- Next Level Urgent Care Opening Ninth Houston-Area Location in Pearland [Houston Chronicle]
- WeWork To Open Second Houston Location [HBJ ($)]
- Dallas Chain Shell Shack Teams with Franchisee To Open Houston Locations [Eater Houston]
- Struggling Mall, Aging Apartments Create Challenges in Greenspoint Area [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Camp Logan Monument Vandalized 1 Day After Restoration Unveiling [Houston Chronicle]
- What Makes Houston a ‘Velcro City’? [OffCite]
Photo of the Heights Kroger yesterday: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
In this issue: a bit of MetroNational clearance — plus more pedestrian domestic disturbances.
- 26915 Willow Ln. [HAR]
THE BIG WET PICTURE FOR A POSSIBLE HARVEY HANGOUT 
A Hurricane Harvey shown veering slightly further to the east than previous reports suggested is now expected to reach the Texas coast late Friday night or early Saturday morning as close as 125 miles southwest of Houston — with a rating at the high end of Category 3. But heavy rainfall could continue for days if the storm stalls or retreats instead of moving inland and clings to the coastline as it travels east. The National Weather Service now expects flooding in the Greater Houston area and points east to continue through Tuesday, with rainfall ranging from 15 to 25 in. [Space City Weather; National Weather Service] Image: National Weather Service
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HERE COMES YOUR PERIODIC REMINDER OF WHO’S AHEAD IN THE ONGOING COMPETITION BETWEEN DETENTION AND DEVELOPMENT 
“Looks like we’re in for a real wet weekend. It will be interesting to see if all the detention ponds constructed in the past 10 to 15 [years] combined with the loss of open land due to development results in net positive flood compared to events like Allison, Rita and Ike.” [Dana-X, commenting on Here Comes Harvey; Lone Star Flight Museum’s Opening Day; A Texas Castles Primer] Illustration: Lulu
The City of Houston website may still describe Jones Plaza as a “fully renovated” public square that forms the centerpiece of the city’s Theater District downtown, but Houston First appears ready to fully renovate it again. The quasi-public agency says it will select 5 teams from among any “experienced urban design firms, landscape architects or architects capable of creating an inspired, iconic, accessible and welcoming design” that apply before September 5 to create preliminary designs for a redo. Among the possibly familiar items listed for inclusion on the redesign menu: a water element, a “green oasis with seasonal plantings,” a performance space, an art installation, and a 4,000-sq.-ft. fast-casual restaurant.
Jones Plaza’s current design, which features similar items, dates from a 2001 rebuild led by Bricker+Cannady Architects; that renovation lowered and canted the previously raised plaza surface so that all steps could be removed from the Louisiana St. side facing Jones Hall:
Do-Overs
- Hurricane Could Hit Texas for First Time Since 2008 [CNN]
- Hurricane and Storm Warnings in Effect for Southeast Texas [Houston Chronicle]
- As Harvey Approaches, Here’s How To Prepare for Inland Flooding [Space City Weather]
- Areas Houston Drivers Should Avoid During Heavy Rain, According to the Public Works Department [Click2Houston]
- Finger Cos. Breaks Ground on Apartment Project in Clear Lake [HBJ ($)]
- Design Firm Ware Malcomb Completes 2 Buildings in Southport Logistics Park in North Texas [Houston Chronicle]
- The High Homeownership Rates Among Asian and Hispanic Residents in Houston [HBJ ($)]
- Lone Star Flight Museum To Open Sept. 2 at Ellington Airport [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- City Council OKs $12.5M for Next Phase of Bayou Greenways 2020 [Houston Chronicle]
- Manchester Getting Left Behind in Houston’s Sustainability Vision [Houston Public Media]
- 100 Years After Camp Logan Mutiny, 2 Soldiers Honored with Military Headstones at College Park Cemetery [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- A History of Texas Residential Castles in the 20th Century [Texas Monthly]
Photo of White Oak Bayou: Mark Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
The longstanding culinary — and car-towing — standoff on Old Spanish Trail between Guy’s Meat Market and the adjacent Sunshine’s Vegetarian Deli has finally come to an end.
- 18210 E. De Vaca Ln. [HAR]
HOW TO BUILD A ‘SPONGE CITY’ Meanwhile, in Berlin: Landscape architects and designers in the German capital have identified a strategy designed to keep water where it lands, to imitate the natural water cycle otherwise absent from built-up areas. The goal: To cool environments otherwise dominated by hard and reflective surfaces by deploying green roofs and façades on buildings and urban wetlands and swales at ground level. [Bloomberg Businessweek] Video: Bloomberg Businessweek
The last pair of remaining Joe’s Crab Shack restaurants in Houston — at 2120 S. Hwy. 6, just north of the West Oaks Mall (pictured above), and at 20100 Hwy. 59 in Humble — closed this week, leaving the Seawall location in Galveston as the region’s sole outpost of the seafood chain. Three other Houston-area locations shut down earlier this month, ahead of the chain’s repurchase — approved in bankruptcy court last Thursday — by restaurant and entertainment giant Landry’s.
The original Joe’s Crab Shack opened in 1991 at 6218 Richmond Ave. (between Hillcroft and Fountain View); it was bought by Landry’s 3 years later and by 2006 had transformed into a 120-restaurant chain.
According to the Joe’s website, which for the most part appears to be keeping up with the latest unannounced closings, the chain is now down to 66 locations nationwide (14 in Texas) — though more may drop before Landry’s officially takes over early next week.
- Tilman Fertitta wins Joe’s Crab Shack in bankruptcy court [Houston Chronicle]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Joe’s Crab Shack Is Already Half-Gone from Houston
Photo of Joe’s Crab Shack at 2120 S. Hwy. 6: CREXi
Gone for Shore
