- 23907 Conefall Ct. [HAR]
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ANDERSON TODD, 1921-2018 
Tucked back on a corner lot a block north of Rice is one of the courtyard houses Anderson Todd designed and lived in during his nearly 70 years in Houston. It’s shown above in all its flat-roofed glory. Like many of the buildings Todd dreamed up around town, the house rests on principles he took from German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, his teacher at Princeton and mentor thereafter. Upon joining Rice’s then-not-so-modern architecture department in 1949, Todd set about implanting Miesian concepts in his students’ brains for the next 4 decades. He also found time to convince Mies himself to design 2 successive additions to the MFAH: Cullinan Hall and the Brown Pavilion, notes the Chronicle‘s Jasper Scherer. Todd retired from his professorial duties in 1992, and, last Friday, passed away at the age of 97. [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Swamplox inbox
WHERE TO GLIMPSE METRO’S FIRST DRIVERLESS SHUTTLE IN ACTION NEXT YEAR 
“The surge of students biking and walking” along the closed stretch of Wheeler Ave. shown above that forms TSU’s “Tiger Walk” will soon “be joined by a slow-moving, minivan-sized driverless shuttle,” reports the Dug Begley in the Chronicle‘s last Sunday edition. “Though it will run a small, circuitous route at first,” he writes, METRO’s long-term goal is to nudge the shuttle out onto Scott St., where it would stop at the Purple Line light rail station between the TSU campus and UH’s TDECU Stadium. “Transit and university officials are working on an opening day,” according to Begley, “likely in mid-to late January.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Campuspride.org
- TxDOT Begins Years-Long Construction to Address Safety and Congestion at 59 and 610 West [Houston Public Media]
- Elon Musk Tweets About SpaceX Starship Prototype He’s Building in Texas [Houston Chronicle]
- A Decade Without Single-Family Zoning, Grand Rapids Set Precedent for Minneapolis [Next City]
- HCC Buys 24 Acres for New Katy Campus Near I10 and Grand Pwky. Close to UH Katy Campus [HBJ]
- New Median Openings and Turn Lanes on Wilcrest Relieve Traffic Problems in Westchase District [Houston Public Media]
- A List of Drop-Off Locations to Recycle Christmas Trees in Houston [Culturemap]
Photo: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
These six homes will be removed from the equation:
- 23606 Riverwood Dr. [HAR]
Note: This story has been updated to note that the church is located in Sixth Ward, not First.
In April, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura — the highest judicial body in the Catholic Church — issued a ruling direct from Rome to the corner of Silver and Center streets, reports the Chronicle’s Lisa Gray: St. Stephen Church, across from Platypus Brewing, would be required to reopen. (It wasn’t until the fall that members of the church found out, though, seeing as “the Vatican doesn’t just post its rulings on the web. Its documents are in Latin, and are not made public,” Gray writes.) The church’s 1941 brick building had been boarded up since closing in 2016, around which time Lovett Commercial — the owner of the strip housing Platypus and neighboring retail — announced plans to redevelop some of St. Stephen’s parking and expressed interest in buying the church itself, according to congregants.
Divine Intervention
NEEDVILLE WATER TOWER WILL STAY STANDING FOR NOW ON ACCOUNT OF IT MIGHT BE COVERED IN LEAD Needville’s city council appeared unmoved by local preservationists’ 2-year campaign to repaint and rehab the town’s signature WWII-era water tower earlier this month when it voted 3-2 to demolish the, um, patinaed structure. But just last Friday, 2 people with land near the tower took a new approach to preserving it, arguing in district court that the structure’s worth saving not just for its looks but because lab tests, their attorney wrote, showed that its exterior “was coated with six layers of lead-based paint,” each containing a high level of the chemical. A temporary restraining order granted against the City of Needville the same day now bars anyone from toppling the tower until “safety protocols are established by competent experts,” to ensure that “no environmental contamination” will result from the teardown. (“The contractor hired by the city council is a nice guy,” one of the plaintiffs, Rick Sinclair, told the Chronicle’s Kristi Nix, “but I don’t believe he is licensed or accredited to handle this level of lead abatement.”) A hearing to consider the lawsuit is now set for January 19. According to the plaintiffs, “Restoration coating systems have been identified” that would protect the tower while also sealing in the lead. [abc13] Video: Picture Perfect Productions
- Houston Arboretum Will Charge for Parking in 2019 [Houston Press]
- La Colombe d’Or and Its Restaurant Cinq Closing Dec. 31 for Year-Long Renovations [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Rice University To Host Data Privacy Symposium Jan. 28 [Glasstire]
- Shining a Light on Houston’s Booming Food Blogging Scene [Houston Press]
Photo of Yume restaurant, terminal E, George Bush Intercontinental: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
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.
A HOLIDAY SIGN-OFF 
Swamplot is checking out early today in the spirit of Christmas Eve. We’ll be gone tomorrow, too, but don’t let that detract from any merry plans you’ve got scheduled for the holiday. If you’re really aching for a dose of Houston real estate reporting, our archive remains online 24-7 for a quick peek. And we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled coverage on Wednesday, at which time we hope you’ll rejoin us for the year’s final stretch of news coverage. Photo: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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:
Special Exhibition
- Del Frisco’s Considering Selling Dining Concepts or Whole Company To Maximize Shareholder Value [HBJ]
- Emancipation Ave. Becomes First Major City Granted State’s ‘Texas Main St.’ Historic Revitalization Designation [Houston Public Media]
- East End’s Ruiz Tortilleria Y Taqueria on 6641 Canal St. Destroyed by Fire Saturday Morning [abc13]
- LGI Homes Opens 840-Home Freeman Ranch Community in Katy [Houston Chronicle]
- Unfinished Bluejack National Residential Community Surrounding Tiger Woods-Designed Golf Course North of Houston Ranks #8 Top Course in US [HBJ]
- HISD Hasn’t Yet Received $7.5M from Kinder Foundation for Naming Rights on the New HSPVA Opening in January [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
- One Reason for Downtown Houston’s Lack of Crossing Buttons: Intersection Overhauls Could Reach $60 Million [Houston Chronicle]
- Winter Wonderland Christmas Village at Bayou Bend Open Until January 5 [abc13]
- Del Frisco’s, Himalaya, Quattro Among List of Houston Restaurants Open Christmas Day [Houston Chronicle]
- Prop B Judge Reprimands Lawyers After Firefighter Sends Her Personal Facebook Message About Ruling [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of Christmas display at Westside Tennis & Fitness, 1200 Wilcrest Dr., Briarforest: elnina via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
These buildings are fleeting:
- 3737 Sunset Blvd. [HAR]
