Some “significant earth moving” is taking place near the corner of Kingsland Blvd. and Barker Cypress Rd. at the northwest corner of George Bush Park, reports a reader who sent in these pics from the apparent construction scene from over the weekend. Yes, this is the site of the famed LH7 Ranch, which at last report — a year and a half ago — appeared to be headed toward a new destiny as a “ranch-themed” housing development. But that’s not what our tipster hears:
ALEXAN PICKS UP MIDTOWN APARTMENTS IN FIRE SALE 
How, uh . . . successful was the 9-year-long, $9 million fundraising effort for the new Houston Fire Museum exhibit hall planned for the vacant lot on Hadley St. in Midtown, between Main and Travis? Reporters Nancy Sarnoff and Allan Turner explain it this way: “No money will be returned to donors, [Museum board member and treasurer Bill Edge] said, because none was collected.” Plans to turn the 1.44-acre grass-covered site next to the rail line into a fire-themed public park also flamed out. Instead, the museum is giving up and selling off the land — to Trammell Crow Residential, which plans to construct the 7-story, 215-unit Alexan Midtown apartments on the site, beginning in January. [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo: Ethan Grossman
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
And here are our next winners, ready to move onto that great building lot in the sky:
Photo of construction at 2929 Weslayan: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Declaring the 42-unit Montrose complex a “common nuisance,” the county attorney’s office and the state of Texas have filed a lawsuit against the owner of the former Skylane Apartments at the corner of Richmond and Hazard St. The suit claims that the apartment complex, now known as 1901 Richmond, “habitually” harbors criminal activity and that the owner has not done enough to fix the problem. Between August 2012 and October 2013, according to the complaint, police were called approximately 100 times to the property, resulting in reports of drug possession and sales, aggravated assaults, and the discharge of ï¬rearms. The attorney’s office wants the owner to post a bond and clean up the crime problem, or shut down for a year and forfeit the money.
Almost halfway into their month-long Kickstarter campaign, the producers of a documentary film about the Astrodome are a little less than halfway to their $65,000 goal. Austin and Houston filmmakers Chip Rives and David Karabinas began their movie project in 2009, and claim they could put together a finished project with the footage they already have. But they’re looking for more money to help them secure rights to NFL and Major League Baseball footage. Also needed: a music score (to replace the U2 temp track in the clip below), and money for editing, more interviews, and additional shoots.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A PROPER HOUSTON WELCOME 
“I’d like some of the astroturf to use as a floor mat for my entry.” [toasty, commenting on Great Astrodome Parts Sell-Off Now Scheduled To Begin Before Votes Are Even Counted]
Updates to a Woodway Place townhome haven’t done away with its seventies touches entirely. There is, for example, a vertigo-worthy atrium that’s alive and well and making sure rooms on both levels get some extra rays, hanging gardens, and possibly some peek-a-boo across the way. Earlier this week, the shafted townhome hit the market with an asking price of $249,900. That’s a higher price than other 2-bedroom units in the development, but this one initially had 3 — before combining 2 of them into a whopper of a master suite on the second level.
The Dallas Fort Worth investment group that bought up the vacant 104-acre AstroWorld site in 2010, then sold off portions of it — including a 48-acre chunk to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo late last year — is now trying to find a buyer for the last remaining big piece of the former amusement park: 44 acres fronting Reliant Park across the freeway to the north, Sam’s Club and MetroRail’s end-of-the-line Fannin South Station to the east, and West Bellfort to the south. An odd-shaped 6.3-acre bite taken out of the HalfstroWorld property on the southeast corner belongs to Metro, which is reserving the space for future station expansion or relocation for a future rail line along Route 90A.
Photo of US-59 at Weslayan: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
CALCULATING THE GREEN FOR THIS WEEKEND’S FREE TREE GIVEAWAY 
Hmmmm . . . what’ll it be for your yard? Live Oak, Bald Cypress, Burr Oak, Cedar Elm, Chinkapin Oak, Drummond’s Maple, Loblolly Pine, Mexican White Oak, Nuttall Oak, Overcup Oak, Pecan, Shumard Oak or Water Oak? Come to the remote Rodeo Houston parking lot at 2030 Reed Rd. with your electric bill in hand this Saturday, October 26, between 8:30 and 3:30 and you’ll have your pick — of whatever’s left. Trees for Houston, CenterPoint Energy, and the Arbor Day Foundation will be giving away a total of 2,500 specimens in 5-gallon containers this weekend (a couple thou are still unclaimed). You can reserve yours online. A handy satellite-photo-equipped web app is meant to help you decide where to plant your tree and which species to plant; it estimates annual energy-cost savings for each type of tree, depending on where you place it on your property. [Arbor Day Foundation]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MAKING THE ASTRODOME A TRUE MONUMENT TO OUR ACHIEVEMENTS HERE 
“It can be the Symbol of the City, and it can be torn down. This is Houston, where those two ideas are not opposed to one another.” [luciaphile, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Symbol of the City] Illustration: Lulu
